Passion: The Story of Love Between Two Creatures
by Kairan Itsuda
Summary: Sonic/Pokemon Crossover: Bass the fox is just a regular kid with the dream to experience an adventure like in the books and movies. His dream soon comes true as he mysterously winds up in the Pokemon world, where he falls in love with the Gardevoir Rain.
1. Opening

Chapter One:  
Opening  
Bass had always been the average sort of person; the young, brown-furred Mobian Fox did not posses any special powers like Sonic or any of his friends. Bass was just a normal, fifteen year-old kid who lived in the city of Station Square.

On this particular day, one of Bass' friends, Leo, asked him if they could meet at the park just to "hang out an' chat". So, Bass wandered down to the park and waited for his Leonian friend to arrive. He was sitting on a bench reading an adventure novel. He was just about to get to his favorite chapter when a young male voice interrupted his reading.  
"Hey, Bass! How's it going?"  
Bass closed his book and looked up to meet Leo's pure blue eyes.  
"Hello Leo. So, what's up?"  
"Aww nothin' much..." replied the Leonian, "jus' bored. The usual."  
"Yeah...it does get kinda boring around here sometimes."  
"So...what do you want to do?" Leo asked Bass.  
"Wanna go hang out elsewhere?"  
"Where?" Asked Leo.  
"Where else?" Said Bass "the Pearl Bar!"  
"Ahh..." said Leo as he recalled the place. The Pearl Bar was a place that was geared more toward the younger folk of Station Square. A good, high percentage of teens went to the bar to chat, hang out, play games, and listen to the cover bands that played there.  
"D'you think Mattress will be playing there today?" Leo asked Bass. Mattress was an all-teen Cover band and one of the most popular to date. They played all sorts of rock from American Rock to J-Rock and everything in between.  
"Well, I think they are," said Bass, "after all, it's a weekend in the summer."

As the two friends approached the entrance to the Bar rock music could be heard from inside. The two entered and were immediately hearing familiar notes.

"Isn't that 'Crazy Sunshine' by the Pillows?"  
"Yep. Defiantly Mattress." The Pillows was a Japanese rock band that Mattress exclusively did cover songs for.

As Leo and Bass walked back towards the Bar for some drinks Bass looked back to see the members of Mattress. There was James, the Blue-furred male Cat lead singer of age 17, clad in his signature hooded jacket; the sixteen year old human Max, with brown hair, a red long-sleeved shirt, blue pants and his guitar that he played main guitar with; Darix, a sixteen year old black-furred male bat who played bass; Jordan, the ever-quiet green furred male Fox drummer of seventeen years; and Arthur, the yellow furred male fifteen year old mongoose who played synthizer.

Bass and Leo approached the bar, and took seats next to each other.

"What'll it be boys?" the bartender asked the two friends.  
"Soda" the two friends answered. Leo pulled out some coins and set them on the Bar in front of them. "It's on me this time."

As Mattress finished up their song a wild applause rang out from the crowd.

"All right everyone! How're you today?" Said James, who was treated with another round of loud cheering.  
"That's great!" shouted James in his imitation voice of Sawao Yamanaka, the lead singer of The Pillows. It was uncanny how much James sounded like him. The Cat then turned to his band and said, "What'll it be guys?"

Immediately they began to play another Pillows song, Rush, much to the delight of the crowd.  
"So, Bass," Began Leo, "How's it hangin'?"  
"I guess I'm just bored with life..."  
"Bored with life?" Leo did not understand his friend, "What do you mean?"  
"Well, wouldn't it be cool if we could go on some kind of adventure? Like how Sonic and Tails do?"  
"I guess..." answered Leo, "actually I'm just fine with my life. But...It would be cool to go on some kind of awesome adventure..."

The truth was that Bass had grown tired of his way of life a long time ago. Nothing even remotely exciting ever happened to him. So he buried himself in adventure novels, action movies, and any other links to the world of excitement he so longed for.

Later that night after Leo and Bass had left to go home, the thoughts of an adventure returned to the fox as he walked back to his house. Suddenly he began to hear whistling. Bass kept on walking and it was not long before he found the whistler: Dusk, another one of Bass' friends. He was sitting atop a fence and hopped down with a "Hello, Bass". Dusk was sixteen and was wearing a buttoned up red vest with purple pants. He had violet eyes.

"Hiya Dusk" Said Bass.  
"So..."began the Leonian, "anything interestin' happen today?"  
"Nope. Nothin'."  
"Still yearning for an 'adventure'? Why don't you go rock climbing?"  
"I can't afford to Rock-Climb! Besides, you know I'm talking about an adventure like the movies and stuff."  
"Well Bass, just keep waiting. I'm sure you'll get a chance soon. Remember: Luck is when Opportunity meets Preparation." And with that, Dusk walked into the night, and Bass continued home, unaware that his heart's desire would soon be fulfilled.


	2. Other World

Chapter 2:  
Otherworld

Bass woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. He decided to head to the park for some exercise. Maybe some stretches and then a quick jog. As he ran, he began to imagine that he was on his way to help some poor citizen in distress. Yes, it was somewhat childish, but Bass was so desperate for any kind of excitement that he was willing to delude himself even with a simple game of make-believe. He was just starting to get up to speed when he tripped on a flowerbed.

"Strange," thought Bass to himself as he clambered back to his feet. "I don't remember a patch of flowers here before...Come to think of it; the whole park looks a little different."

It was true. The trees were growing in patterns that Bass hadn't encountered previously. New and exotic flower were growing wild everywhere. He knew the whole park like the back of his own hand, so these changes were more than a little unnerving.

Just as Bass got up a huge bee buzzed by. The thing was about the size of a filing cabinet, with only two legs and arms that ended in vicious spikes  
"What the heck was that?!" Bass yelped.

A swarm of similar insects buzzed by soon after. Bass walked nervously away and tripped over a large rock. He glanced at it for a second, and then stared at it as he realized a pair of arms and a face. It hopped away from him, muttering angrily. Bass stared after it in utter confusion. What was going on here?

"Hehehe...I take it you've never been around Pokemon before, have you?"

Bass jumped as a voice sounded directly inside his mind. He wheeled around to find the source of the voice, and found himself looking at the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life. It was a tall, feminine creature that had elegant green hair and looked as though it was wearing a beautiful, flowing ballroom dress. Its face, back, and chest were white while the rest of its body was green. From the center of its chest and back a flat, horn-like extension protruded outwards.

"Who're you?" asked Bass, in a somewhat odd voice.

"My name's Rain," responded the creature telepathically. "I'm a Gardevoir."

"Sorry, you're a what?" he asked.

She laughed. "Come and walk with me. I'll explain."

Rain helped Bass up and the two walked. As they passed through more flower patches and meadows, Rain explained to Bass what Pokemon were and all about the world that they live in. The more and more Rain talked and the more he looked upon her, the more captivated he was. The two took a seat in a flower bed.

Bass felt as though an entire swarm of butterflies was whirling around in his stomach. Without thinking, he said the first thing that came to his mind.

"You're so beautiful."

"Hm? Did you say something?" she asked.

His insides turned to lead. "Uh...I-I mean this world. It's beautiful."

"Yes, I've always thought so. It's so exciting and full of surprises...like you."

Bass was deeply thankful that his face was covered in fur so that Rain wouldn't be able to see him blush crimson.

"So," she said at length. "Where do you live?"

"Probably a long way away from here," he answered. For a fleeting second he felt just a touch of homesickness. One look at Rain and the world he was in was more than enough to dispel that, however. This was the sort of thing he'd always wanted to happen to him. Not only that, but he was starting to come to grips with the fact that he had fallen in love with the beautiful creature who sat next to him.

"Then you'd probably want a place to stay. Out here in the wild is no good. Especially for my new friend."

Bass could not believe what he just heard: Rain just considered him a friend. And, she was going to take him home with her! He was more than happy for an excuse to spend more time with her. So Bass let Rain show him to her home. It was carved into the trunk of a tree and had a nice roomy look to it.

"Wow, it's amazing," said an awed Bass. He never had seen anything even close to this before.

"Thank you. I'm rather proud of it, but I didn't make this on my own...a really nice trainer named Arven helped me. You see, I was abandoned and had to find a place to stay..."

"Oh wow...that's really sad...How could anyone do that to someone as sweet as you? It's criminal."

Rain smiled. "You're too kind," she said, with a glowing smile.

Rain showed Bass inside, and led him to her bedroom. Rain's bed was carved out of wood and the sheets and blankets were made out of leaves and such. Bass decided that, for politeness's sake he would spend the night in Rain's spare room.

As the two slept, Bass was treated with dreams of his new love...spending time with her, making her laugh, making her happy...It would mean the world to Bass to just see Rain smile.

The next morning Bass got up bright and early. He found Rain standing outside in front of her house.

"G'mornin' Rain," said Bass to Rain.

"Good morning Bass," replied Rain.

She looked at him for a second. "What is it?" she asked. "You look like something's eating at you."

"Well..."began Bass, "I've been wanting...to tell you something..."

"What?"

"Being here, seeing this world with you has been amazing. You're...I mean, I'm..." Oh god. He couldn't even get a simple sentence out.

He was so busy trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach that it took him some time to realize that he was starting to glow. He looked down at himself in alarm.

"Bass, what's happening?" asked Rain, betraying more than a little unease.

"I dunno! I'm-I'm-I-"

Bass watched as his body started to dissolve.

"NO!" he shouted. Desperately he tried to run forward, reaching for Rain's hand. Their fingers were but an inch apart when suddenly he vanished completely  
The next thing he knew he found himself back in Station Square Park.

"Rain? Rain? RAIN?! No...No...NO! WHY?!" He fell to his hands and knees, weeping. It wasn't fair. How could this have happened? He been given a taste of the most wonderful experience he'd ever known, only to have it snatched away at the last moment. He was so upset that he didn't notice Dusk come walking up to him until he felt his hand on his shoulder.

"Whoa, whoa. Hey, Bass. What happened to you? You look like everyone in your family just died."

Getting control over his sobbing, Bass explained to Dusk about the new world he'd visited, the things he'd seen, and the beautiful woman he had met, though he conveniently forgot to mention that he was head over heels in love with her.

"You probably don't believe a word I'm saying, do you?"

Dusk said nothing for a long time. "Call me crazy," he said slowly, "but I believe you. I've heard plenty of strange things before. This is the weirdest, but not by much. Still, I don't know what to tell you. I don't know anything about other world's or anything like that. I'll talk to Leo and see if we can't find something, but..."

He didn't need to finish the thought. They had no clue how Bass had even gotten to that world in the first place. How would they get him back?

"It's alright..." said Bass. "You go on ahead and find Leo. I'll catch up. I just need some time alone."

Bass sat in the park for some time, just wallowing in misery. Eventually, though he got back up, a determined gleam in his eye. He was going to get back to Rain, of that he was certain. He also knew that just sitting here moping would do no good. The only thing to do was hold his head up and start doing research.

'Hold on Rain,' he thought. 'I'm coming."


	3. Prayer

Chapter Three:

Prayer

Bass realized that it was only midday. Good. Plenty of time left to brainstorm with his friends. He was about to start looking for them when a voice stopped him.

"Bass. Hey, Bass! Wait up! I was looking for you!"

Bass turned to who the voice belonged to. It was none other than Max, the guitarist from Mattress.

"Oh, hey Max," he said dully.

"What, no "Oh my God, it's Max!"? No "I'm such a gigantic fan of yours!"? No "Will you sign this random piece of paper?!"?

"Sorry," Bass responded. "I'm not quite in the mood at the moment."

"I'm not surprised, after what happened to you," Max replied.

"What do you mean?"

"I saw your two friends talking out by the bar. I caught a few snippets and asked what was going on. They were a little leery, but eventually they told me your story. Tough break, man. I think I might be able to help, though."

"I don't know if you can..." Bass was tempted by the offer, but at the same time he doubted just how much a guitarist would know about alternate dimensions.

"Don't be too sure," Max responded. "Anyway, let's go meet up with Dusk and Leo."

The pair started walking. It wasn't long before they caught site of Leo and Dusk. They were leaning on the fence that Dusk had perched on the other night, having an argument about what they could do to re-open the doorway.

"No no...That won't work either!" said Dusk, who was waving his right hand in the air while keeping his left hand completely in his pocket. It was a bit of a habit that Dusk had, and he did it whenever he was around other people.

"Well, what if we checked some of those occult books at the library? I bet there'd be some kind of return spell in one of them," suggested Leo.

"Well..." began Dusk, "I suppose that could work...still, most of those books are probably rubbish anyway, and even if we found one that wasn't bogus, how could we learn a spell like that? If we screwed up, there's no telling what might happen."

"You'd probably open up a rift," said Max.

"A rift?" asked Bass.

"Yeah," replied Max, "A rift is a permanent or semi-permanent opening between two dimensions, with no restrictions at all. What we're trying to do is open a gateway, which is a short-lived passage through which only certain things can pass, specifically you. With a rift, anything could bleed over from either side, and I'm not just talking about creatures or plants. Natural laws will start spreading from one world into the other and vice-versa. That would cause effects the likes of which we couldn't predict, though I'd bet my guitar that most of them would be bad."

The other three stared at Max in dumbfounded amazement.

"What? My dad researches portals and other worlds. I pick up on a few things here and there."

"Wait," began Dusk, "Could your dad help us at all?"

"No, unfortunately not," came Max's answer. "He'd be glad to, but unfortunately everything he knows is still experimental. The technology to do what happened to you won't exist for another 20 years at least. Trying with what we have now could lead to a rift or something worse."

"Hmm...well, we could try retracing Bass' steps," suggested Leo. "Maybe if he does what he did last time, it'll happen again.

"Good idea," said Bass.

The group brainstormed, trying to think of everything Bass had done that night. The more they thought, though, the more they doubted. Outside of the conversation with Dusk, Bass hadn't done anything out of the ordinary that night.

"It seems like we've hit another dead end," said Leo.

"Well, now what?" asked Dusk.

"Well, I'll try asking my dad for help anyway. I doubt we'll get anywhere, but it's worth a shot," Max suggested.

"It's getting late. Perhaps we should all go home and turn in for the night," said Bass, with a slight yawn.

On that somewhat disappointing note, the group divided and each headed home after a quick "Good night," to each other.

As Bass walked, his hopes for returning seemed to die a bit with every step. "What if there is no way back?" he wondered aloud. "What if I'm stuck here forever?"

"Oh come now. You can't give up hope already."

Bass jumped at the unfamiliar voice. He did a quick 360 scan, but he appeared to be alone.

"Just my imagination. Maybe I'm going nuts."

Bass resumed walking home when a strange looking creature jumped down directly in front of him. It vaguely resembled a jackal, except that a good portion of its body was blue, and it was standing on two legs. A black, mask-like portion or fur played across its muzzle, and a spike could be seen jutting out of each of its hands.

"Who're you?" inquired Bass. They creature was very serious looking, but it gave off an impression of youth at the same time.

"My name is Aria, and I'm a Lucario. I'm from the Pokemon world that you visited briefly. My masters have called me from that world to offer you help."

"Really?" asked Bass.

"Yes. Please follow me."

Bass decided to trust this "Lucario". Whatever it was his masters wanted, they were willing to help him go back. That would have convinced Bass to jump straight off a cliff without looking back. They arrived at a small shack on the outskirts of the city. Aria knocked on the door of the ramshackle building.

"'Tis me, Aria"  
The door opened, and Aria walked in, with Bass following closely behind.

"Hello Aria," said a male, yellow-furred fox.

He was in his late twenties, and was dressed in a flowing robe with one of those corny wizard's hats on his head. He wielded in his right hand a green stave set with a swirling opal in the head. Next to the wizard, who was named Plimis, was a bat. She had silver white fur and was in her late twenties as well. She was also dressed in a robe and wore a crescent moon medallion around her neck. Her name was Niva  
"Niva, Plimis, this lad wishes to enter the other world."

"Oh, is that so?" said Plimis, with an amused voice. "Niva, we could help him, right?"

"Oh yes, he he, we can. He'll just have to do something for us in exchange."

"What? What? I'll do anything!" exclaimed Bass eagerly.

"My, my, eager, aren't we?" said Niva. "Anxious to return? Perhaps there's something you miss from the other world. Or perhaps, someone..."

"Yes, ma'am," replied Bass, who did not stop to think it odd that this witch, whom he had never seen before in his life, knew that he had been to the other world before, or why he wanted to return.

Plimis pulled out a small, diamond-like gem on a black string.

"Here, put this around your neck. We need some specific research done about this other world. We'd do it ourselves, but unfortunately we need to remain here for the moment, and Aria seems unable to give us what we need. You, on the other hand, might be able to help. If you go, you must do this for us."

"Agreed," said Bass, without even bothering to ask what the research was, or how the gem could possibly help.

"Unfortunately, for you at least, your dear sweet love is never meant to be, at least the way you are," Niva said, in an offhand sort of voice.

"What do you mean?" asked Bass, who still failed to notice anything weird about how this pair knew so much about his escapade.

"Sadly, animaloids and Pokemon are two very different creatures. You two would be too unlike to maintain a happy relationship for long."

"Is there anything you can do? Maybe turn me into a Pokemon?"

"...yes," said Niva at length. "And I think I know just the one."

"Which one is that?"

"A Gallade."

She explained to him about Gallade, how they were masters of swordplay. They were strong, chivalrous, and essentially the male counterpart of a Gardevoir.

"That'd be perfect! Thank you so much!"

And with a "wait there little boy", Niva disappeared into her potion room. After an agonizing half hour wait, Niva was back with a small red vial in her hand.

"Drink this," she said. "It will begin your transformation. We will initiate the spell to send you back at the same time."

Bass eagerly took the vial.

"Alright, here goes."

Bass removed the rubber stopper from the vial and eagerly swallowed every last drop of the potion within. It tasted foul, but Bass couldn't care less. His body immediately began to feel odd. He was dimly aware that Plimis and Niva were muttering some incantation behind him. His body began to glow as it had before. Soon he was dissolving back into golden mist.

When he reformed, he found himself back in the park where he had first met Rain. She was nowhere to be seen, but Bass didn't expect it to be quite that easy. He'd hoped, but not expected.

In his euphoria at having successfully returned, it was some time before Bass realized that something was amiss. For one thing, he felt short. According to Niva, Gallades, like Gardevoirs, were roughly as tall as a normal human. If that was the case, he should be feeling taller.

He started walking toward a nearby pool of water, noticing as he did so that his legs were somewhat impeded by some kind of dress-like thing which seemed to be part of his body. With growing wariness, Bass reached the pool and looked at his own reflection.

"Niva," he said softly to himself, "I'm gonna kill you."


	4. Two for One

Chapter Four

Two for One

Given how calmly Bass had appeared to accept the fact that he'd been stabbed in the back, one would have expected him to have already started on his way. Instead, he was to be found 15 minutes later at more or less the same spot he had arrived in, now shouting threats at empty air.

As he ranted, he came to notice something. Although he was able to perfectly understand what he was saying, he realized that the only thing he actually was saying was the word "Ralts" in varying pitches and lengths. The part of Bass's mind that was not occupied envisioning exactly how he would make Niva pay remembered how Rain had told him that most Pokemon could only say the name of their species. Therefore, he had to assume that the thing he had become was known as a Ralts.

After another few minutes or so, Bass realized that he was still wearing the gem Plimis had given him.

'Well,' he thought, 'if they didn't hold up their end of the bargain, they can't expect me to.'

So thinking, Bass plucked the gem from around his neck and hurled it as far as he could. He turned around and was about to try walking again when something smacked into the back of his head, causing him to pitch over. Rubbing his head, he turned to see the little crystal lying innocently on the ground. He picked it up and hurled it again, only to get smacked in the face as it whizzed back to him.

This went on for sometime, with Bass trying everything he could think of to get rid of the little crystal. No matter what he did, though, it always came right back to him.

"Alright!" he finally shouted. "I'll do your blasted research! But I swear that you two are going to pay for this."

Still, Bass needed a way to vent his anger. To this end, he began hurling stones in various directions. Finally somewhat appeased, Bass set off, only to trip on his dress-like thing. It didn't help that his hair completely covered his eyes. Grumbling, he got back up and tried again, tripping almost instantly. In his anger and frustration, Bass completely failed to realize that of all the stones he had tossed, he had not actually touched a single one of them.

After about a half-hour of getting almost nowhere, Bass sat down on a rock, panting slightly from the effort of staying upright for more than a few steps. How did normal Ralts do this all the time? He sure hoped he could find one soon and ask, because at the rate he was going, dirt was going to be ingrained so far into his skin that he would be a light brown color for several years.

As time passed, Bass found himself idly fondling the gem around his neck. 'What kind of research could they possibly want from me? I seriously doubt that Aria could do a worse job than me. By the time I get close enough to observe anything, it'll either be gone or very old.'

Bass frowned slightly and closed his eyes, trying to think what they could possibly want from him. He opened his eyes and jumped in surprise when he saw an image of Niva deep within the depths of the crystal.

"By now you're probably wondering what we have in mind for you," she said. "Well, I'll tell you. You may or may not be aware of this, but in this world there are humans who call themselves "Trainers". They capture Pokemon and, as their unimaginative name implies, train them. We need to know more about these Trainers, and that's the reason Aria is unable to help us, because I'm sure you've wondered about that."

"The fact is that Lucario are very powerful Pokemon, and if Aria were to go out and study Trainers, he would most likely get captured, and that would severely set back our research. As a Ralts, you are far less likely to be captured, or even noticed most of the time, since Ralts are fairly common. We could have left you as you were, but it would have been hard to get close to people because, unlike your world, Mobians do not exist and therefore people are not used to them."

"Of particular interest to us is a Trainer by the name of Arven. Go find him and stay with him as long as possible. Unless special circumstances arise, this crystal will automatically absorb the data we need. Arven will most likely be found in an area known as Sunstone City."

With that the image vanished. Bass continued to stare at the crystal, half expecting Niva to reappear, though he didn't know why. She did not, though, so Bass released the crystal and, resigning himself to a very bad day, started walking, or rather tripping, along.

--

Arven was a sixteen year old boy. He wore a red cap over his short, black hair. He wore a black shirt with white sleeves, as well as a pair of blue jeans. He had a red scarf around his neck and wore a yellow traveler's backpack.

With Arven was Leiu, a Lucario whom the young Trainer had caught and raised as a Riolu. They were both standing on a small, flat-topped hill overseeing a green valley, with a quaint little lake off to the side. Leiu looked out across the valley, enjoying the scenery, when he happened to notice a rather odd looking creature. It was green on top and white on the bottom, and it seemed to have almost no ability to walk; it just kept falling over.

"Arven, come quick!" called Leiu to Arven telepathically. "I've found a walking mushroom!"

The human trainer quickly came to his friend's side and looked out into the valley to see the "Walking Mushroom". He pulled a pair of binoculars out of his backpack to get a better look.

"Could be a Breloom," he muttered to himself as he tried to focus the lenses on the strange creature.

Upon getting the creature into focus, Arven let out a small laugh.

"Leiu, that's no mushroom! It's only a little Ralts."

Leiu glanced back at the creature, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand. He realized that his friend was correct.

"I guess it is a Ralts."

Arven looked with a touch of sympathy on the slightly pathetic creature.

"Poor guy looks lost. Can't walk too well either, from the look of it."

"Should be an easy catch."

"Well, I don't think I really want to catch him."

"Sorry? Why not? We haven't caught a Ralts yet," Leiu pointed out, with just a touch of confusion.

"Well...he looks like he's looking for something," Arven said. "Anyway, it wouldn't really be fair to him. He can barely walk; how would he protect himself?"

"Besides," he continued. "There's somethin about this guy. I don't know what it is, but something about tells me he's got better things to do than be a Trainer's Pokemon."

"Like learn to walk," Leiu said. "Alright, Mr. Ralts Whisperer, what do we do with him then?"

"What else does the former Sinnoh Champion do when he sees a Pokemon in need? He helps them."

With that, Arven and Leiu started down the hill towards the little figure, for whom the art of walking still seemed completely foreign. They stopped a few feet away to discuss what they were going to do about him.

"Which one of us should go to talk to him?" Arven asked Leiu.

"Why don't you?"

"Well, you're a Pokemon. Why don't you?" Arven was nervous about talking to the Ralts; he didn't want to scare it.

"But you're better with kids."

"You'll be able to understand his emotions."

"Well, you can understand Pokemon anyway."

And it went like this back and forth until Bass had managed to stumble over to the quarreling friends.

Arven was about to say something back to Leiu when he noticed Bass.

"Hey, little guy," said Arven to Bass.

Bass had no idea who this guy was. Given all that he had been through today, it was therefore unsurprising that he back away a few steps before tripping yet again. Jeez, could this really be so hard?!

"Seems like he's scared of you." said Leiu to Arven.

"Well, I don't mean him no harm."

"Lemme try." Leiu turned to Bass and said "Hello little Ralts."

At first Bass mistook Leiu for Aria, and was about to start shouting at him for conspiring with those two twisted magic workers when he noticed that this Lucario lacked that indefinable yet still evident air of youth that Aria possessed. Bass tried to return a greeting verbally, but all that came out was a timid "Ralts...". He was worried that the Lucario hadn't understood him when some instinct took over and he simply thought the message at him.

"Uh, h-hello. Do you know where I am?"

The Lucario's eyes widened slightly in recognition, and Bass realized that he had the power of telepathy.

'Does this mean I'm a Psychic type Pokemon, like Rain?' He would have to test that later.

"What'd he say?" Arven asked Leiu.

"He says hello, and he's wondering where he is."

Arven decided to be the one to answer.

"We're off to the side of the road that leads to Sunstone City."

"I see..." replied Bass.

"Where did you come from, anyway?" Arven asked. "Do you have any friends or family?"

Since Bass highly doubted that either of these two would believe that until that morning he had been an anthropomorphic fox from an alternate dimension, he decided to ignore the question about his origin. As much to distract them from that same question as to answer their second, he decided to tell them about Rain. They might know something.

"Well," began Bass, this time not talking through Leiu but thinking at both of them now, "there's a Gardevoir named Rain that I know, but I don't know exactly where she lives. I'm kinda new here..."

"Do you remember anything about her home? What it was like, the surrounding area? Any thing?"

"Well," said Bass, screwing up his eyes with the effort of remembering, "It was built into a large tree trunk...there were plenty of flower beds around...and there was some kind of brown earthly wall with a hole in it behind the house."

"Ah, I know where that is."

"You do?"

"Of course I do; I helped build it. You said your friend's name was Rain, right? I remember her now. She was always so kind to everyone, but she seemed lonely at the same time."

"Wait," said Bass, suddenly remembering something. "Your name wouldn't happen to be Arven, would it?"

"As a matter of fact," he said, with something of a flourish, "it is. And this here," he continued, indicating his friend, "is Leiu."

"Pleased to meet you," said Leiu, with a small incline of his head.

"And would you happen to have a name other than just Ralts?" Arven asked.

"Yeah, it's Bass."

"Bass, huh?" Arven seemed interested by that.

"Well, anyway," he continued, "Rain's house is on the outskirts of Sunstone City, which is where we were headed. You can tag along if you like."

"Sure!"

This was perfect for Bass; He had managed to find his research subject within only a few short, albeit painful, hours. Now he could get the information he needed, while at the same time be on his way back to Rain. Unfortunately, Bass soon realized that he would have a horrible time keeping up with his new friends.

"Arven, wait up!" called Leiu. "Our little friend here keeps tripping up!"

"Sorry," Bass apologized. "I don't know why I can't get the hang of just walking."

"Well," said Arven. "I suppose one of us is going to have to carry you until you manage to figure it out. Leiu, would you mind?"

"No, not at all," replied Leiu in a semi-sarcastic tone as he picked up Bass. "Here little guy, you can sit on my shoulders."

After having hoisted Bass up into an agreeable position, the trio continued. The little Ralts felt like a kid, getting a piggyback at age fifteen. Oh well. It could be worse, he supposed.

"So, where're you from?" Leiu asked again.

Since Bass couldn't avoid the question this time, he decided to be vague.

"Someplace far away," he replied

"How long until we reach the city?" he asked quickly, to change the subject.

"About a few minuets," said Leiu. "You'll notice we're getting close when we see other Trainers."

"Other Trainers?" Bass tried to remember what Rain had told him about Trainers. It wasn't much, and Niva's little holo-message hadn't given him any details, either.

"I should probably warn you that if two Trainers lock eyes, it's usually perceived as a challenge to a Pokemon battle."

Pokemon battle? Rain hadn't said anything about battles. Still, he didn't want to seem completely ignorant about this world, so he nodded with a knowing look.

"Yeah, but no one has been able to beat me after I became Champion of Sinnoh," said Arven.

"So what happened with Ralph?" reminded Leiu.

"Ralph?" asked Bass.

"He's a friend of mine," explained Arven. "He set out to become a Trainer at the same time I did. He and I were always getting into battles, but he just couldn't beat me. He never gave up though. After I became Sinnoh Champ, he went on this really intense training regime. He came back afterwards and challenged me. The battle was really close, but he beat me fair and square. That's why everyone calls me 'Ex-champ'."

Arven was about to continue explaining when a male trainer spotted Arven. He was dressed in a getup similar to a Boy Scout, and he had a steely glint in his eye.

"Hey you!" shouted the trainer.

"What?" replied Arven, a small smile playing across his lips. He knew what was coming; it had happened to him too many times for him not to.

"I challenge you to a Battle."

Arven smirked. "Oh really? You sure you wanna do this? I hope you realize who you're calling out."

"Yeah! Been looking for a challenge all day! Beating the Ex-champ is gonna be sweet!"

"All right, you're on! Let's go Hori!"

Arven took a small orb the size of a golf ball from a clip on his belt, where other similar orbs were. It was half red and half white, with a single black band between the two colors. Arven pushed a button in the center of the ball and it expanded in his hand until it was about the size of a softball. He then threw it into the air. It hit the ground, bounced once, and split vertically along the black band. A burst of white energy spewed forth from the cavity within, and as Bass watched with amazement it took shape and faded away to reveal one of those bee creatures that Bass encountered on his first visit. Rain called it a "Beedrill".

"Alright, then. Go! Rattatata!" The Scout pulled out a ball similar to Arven's and did the same thing. This time, the burst of energy formed into a small, puppy sized purple rat with large whiskers and even larger teeth.

"Oh, a Battle," said Leiu with amusement. "Sit tight, little guy. You'll like this."

The Scout called a command to his Pokemon.

"Rattatata, Tackle it!"

With a hiss, the rat charged headlong toward Hori, only to sail past as the Beedrill spun gracefully to the side.

"Alright girl, good," said Arven. "Use Twin Needle!"

Upon hearing her master and friend's command, Hori stuck out her two arm-spikes in front of her and flew at Rattatata. It took a few tries, but soon Hori had landed several punishing blows.

"Arghh, don't give in yet!" called out the Scout, seeing his Pokemon weaken considerably.

"Use Hyper Fang!"

Rattatata shook its head and then leapt at Hori, barring its massive fangs. Hori knew that she would not be able to dodge in time, so she stuck out her stinger, and all Rattatata got was a mouth full of pain. After that, the purple rat Pokemon could not fight on. It collapsed onto it's stomach, defeated.

"Return Rattatata!" The Scout pointed the ball at his Pokemon. A red beam shot from the ball and connected with the Rattatata. It transformed back into glowing energy and was re-absorbed by the sphere.

"Okay...Go! Pickachu!" called the Scout as he released a yellow mouse Pokemon with red circles on its cheeks. It looked downright adorable, at least until jagged bolts of electricity lanced across its body.

"Thunder Shock!" shouted the Scout. Immediately the mouse began to charge electricity from its cheeks. It let out a large electric burst which collided with Hori. The poor insect simply could not withstand the shocking current, and she fell to the ground, smoking slightly.

"Aww, good job girl! C'mon back!" said Arven as he returned Hori to her ball.

"Hrmm...Leiu, up for a go?"

"Sure," answered the Lucario. He set down Bass and stepped up to the Pickachu.

"All right Pikachu, let's go!" said Leiu to Pikachu.

"Chuu!" replied the small electric mouse, who began charging electricity as an attempt at intimidation. It tried to shoot Thunder blasts at Leiu. However, the Lucario was easily fast enough to avoid all of them.

"Take this!" shouted Leiu as he moved in to Pickachu and delivered a powerful punch to the rodent.

"Pikachu!" called the Scout. "Agility!"

The Pikachu suddenly began dashing from place to place at high speeds. It was soon moving too fast for the eye to follow.

"Wow! He's fast! I can't even see him!" said Bass to Arven.

"Watch and learn, little fella," said Arven confidently. "Leiu, Earthquake!"

Leiu leaped into the air, struck a pose just for the fun of it, and then hurtled back down to the ground. Upon landing, Leiu delivered a massive punch to the earth. The blow sent massive shockwaves in every direction, knocking the Pikachu off its feet. While it was still disoriented, Leiu placed his hands together and began charging a blue orb between them, which continued to grow.

"Watch the power of Aura!" he shouted, before hurling the massive Aura Sphere at the Pikachu. The poor mouse never stood a chance.

"Return Pikachu!" called the Scout as he returned his Pokemon. "Aww shoot, that's my last one..."

"Really?" asked Arven. "It was a good match. I'm actually surprised you lasted as long as you did."

"Thanks." said the Scout. "I'm pretty surprised myself. I'm kinda new to this whole Poke-gig."

"Well, keep at it." replied Arven. "Remember to keep training your Pokemon. The most important thing, though, is bonding with them. If your Pokemon trust you and think of you as their friend, there is no enemy they will not challenge at your command. Giving your Pokemon nicknames is a good way to breed familiarity and friendship."

"All right, I'll do that. See you around."

"See ya." Arven then shook hands with the Scout.

Leiu picked up Bass and they continued on. Bass was sitting in an awed silence as they moved onward; he'd never seen anything that amazing in all his life. 'Wow,' he thought amusedly. 'I seem to think that a lot lately.'

"Well Bass, is this your first time to a city?" Arven asked.

"Huh?" said Bass confusedly, suddenly breaking out of his revere. "Uh, yeah it is. I'm a bit nervous..."

Bass didn't tell them that he'd used to live in a city because they'd ask him about it. He was pretty sure he'd have a hard time explaining that Station Square was in a parallel dimension. For now, he was just going to give the answers that would spark the fewest questions.

"Don't be," said Arven. "You'll like it."

"Yeah, they're pretty cool places, especially Sunstone City. You never know what you're going to see on the next block," agreed Leiu.

"Well, I'm still kinda nervous. Still, I can't wait."


	5. The City of the Daystone

Chapter Five  
The City of the Daystone

"So a Pokemon Battle could happen anywhere?" asked Bass.

"Yeah," answered Leiu, who was still carrying the little Ralts on his back. "They can happen any time, anywhere."

"Well, to be honest," began Arven, "they usually take place outside. However, there are certain indoor places such as Gyms and Clubs which are specifically made for indoor battling."

"Ah."

The three had continued walking after the battle with the scout for about an hour. Bass, having been so wowed by the duel, had started asking all kinds of questions, such as rules and techniques, which Arven and Leiu happily answered. Soon the friends came to a large, magnificent sign that was off to the side of the Road. It read:

"Welcome to Sunstone City!"

"Alright Bass, take a look at this!"

Sunstone City had a sunny, clean look to it. The people looked friendly, magnificent flowers and trees grew here and there, and the buildings looked more magnificent than the ones back in Station Square. Bass noticed a couple of cars drive by and saw something rather different about them: instead of smoke and smog spewing fourth from the exhaust pipe, a wet, mist-like cloud puffed out.

"This world's even more amazing than I thought," said Bass out loud.

Unfortunately, he had said that just loud enough for Arven to hear him, and even though Bass had said that in Pokemon speech, Arven was still somehow able to understand him.

"What do you mean by that?" Arven asked suspiciously.

Drat. That slip was going to cost him. Best lie quickly.

"Ohh…well, y' know...I've been living out in the wild all my life and I've never been to a city before. It's like a whole new world to me." Please buy it. Pleeease buy it!

Leiu lookedat Bass from the corner of his eye.

"That's a lie," he said finally.

"What?!" exclaimed Bass, "No it's not! I swear!"

"Can't lie to a Lucario, little buddy," said Arven. "They're Aura readers. They can tell what a erson's thoughts or emotions are by reading Aura, which is a type of energy that all creatures give off."

"And you are lying right now," Leiu finished. "So, are you gonna come clean?"

'Here we go,' Bass thought. 'They're gonna think I'm crazy.'

Alright, alright. I'll talk, but you'll never believe me."

Arven smiled. "Try me. I've seen just about everything there is to see in this world."

And with that, Bass launched into the explanation of how he was really a human-like fox from another world, and how he had been somehow sent here. He told them about Rain, how he'd been snatched away, and about how Plimis and Niva had sent him back and turned him into this Ralts instead of a Gallade like they'd promised (that part made him angry to talk about). He explained right up to the point where he'd met them.

"So, that's the truth, but like I said, you probably don't belive me."

Arven glanced at Leiu.

"He's telling the truth," he said.

"Yeah, I thought he was," Arven agreed. "Well, I take back what I said before. Turns out there are some things I've never seen before."

"So you belive me?" Bass asked, somewhat surprised.

"It's not a question of belief," Leiu said. "I know you aren't lying."

"Even if it was," Arven continued. "we'd belive you anyway."

Relief flooded Bass as he realized that these people did not think him crazy. Strange, maybe, but definitely sane.

Arven, Bass, and Leiu continued walking in silence until they stood in front of a small store with a blue roof.

"What's this place?" asked Bass.

"This is a Poke mart, where Trainers can come to shop for supplies for their Pokemon quests. They're chock full of useful items," Arven explained.

He glanced quickly at Leiu, who met his eye and nodded.

"Listen, why don't you go on ahead of us and look around?" he said. "I need to check my map of the city, and the lighting isn't too great in there."

Bass looked in the window. The lights seemed plenty bright to him. Still, if Arven wanted a private conversation with Leiu, Bass felt it would be only polite to oblige.

"Okay," he said.

Leiu set Bass down and rubbed his shoulder.

"Sorry little guy," he said apologetically. "My shoulder's killing me."

"It's fine," Bass said. "I should be alright as long as I don't walk too fast.

With that, he slowly paced toward the door, which slid open automatically, and was delighted to find that he didn't feel all that unsteady. He marched inside and the doors shut.

Leiu glanced at Arven. "You got the same feeling I did," he said. It wasn't a question.

"Yeah," Arven agreed. "You saw how he got when he started talking about Rain, right? His whole face lit up."

"I'm not surprised," Leiu said. "The little guy's in love."

"Yeah, I thought that too. I hope it goes well. Still, it's not like he got a bad deal, falling for Rain. She's a sweet one."

Arven sighed. "Man, but doesn't he have a wild story."

"Mmhm, it's like some kinda love story you'd see a movie about," agreed Leiu.

"Oh yeah?" asked Arven skeptically. "And what movie have you ever seen like this?"

Leiu thought for a moment, but all he came up with was "Clefairy in Space".

"Uh…no Leiu. 'Clefairy in Space' wasn't a love story. It wasn't even accurate about the little guys. And it definetely wasn't this wierd."

Leiu frowned at that, and sat silently for a bit. Presently he realized that they'd been out here for a while.

"We'd better check on Bass," he said. "I bet he's probably gotten in some trouble by now."

With that, the two walked inside the store.

Contrary to what Leiu had expected, Bass hadn't gotten in any sort of situation yet. He had yet to get over the shock of seeing the store from the inside. It wasn't big, especially compared to some of the department store's he'd been in before. It was the diversity of the items that blew his mind. There were berries that cured every stat ailment you could think of. Potions of all strengths could be found. There was an entire section devoted to pokeballs of all kinds. Great balls, Lure balls, gold balls, balls with neon lights. The variety was endless.

Bass walked in a sort of stupor down the aisles, staring wide-eyed at everything there was to buy.

"Keep and eye on him Leiu. We don't want 'im to disappear suddenly," said Arven as he approached the front register.

Behind the register was Jack, a good friend of Arven's. Jack looked to be in his mid-twenties and he had brown hair. He also appeared to be a nice guy.

"Hey! If it isn't Arven!" called Jack, waving.

"Hey, Jack! How's it been?" replied Arven as he and Jack shook hands.

"Ah, same ol' same ol'. How 'bout you?"

"It's goin' fine."

"So, what'll it be today?"

At this point, Bass had finally come to. He began looking at the wares with a critical eye, seeing if there was anything that might be beneficial to him on his quest. It also crossed his mind that Niva and Plimis might want to know about these items. Much as he loathed the pair of them, he had to be a little grateful for the fact that they'd sent him here at all. For this reason, Bass took the time to hold the crystal up in front of each new item for about 10 seconds before moving on.

Then he tripped again. 'For the love of...grahh!' he shouted in his head.

Arven and Jack noticed nothing, but Leiu actually winced at the anger behind that thought.

'Why does it have to be so hard for me to move around?!' he thought even more angrily. His frustration was reaching breaking point, and he found himself wishing with everything he had that he could just move forward two simple feet. And suddenly, he did.

There was no flashy display, just a simple whoosh. One minute he'd been there, and the next he was here.

'Whoa! How'd I do that!?' thought Bass.

Amazed by his newfound ability, Bass was dying to try it again. He chose a spot at random and concentrated on it as hard as he could. whoosh He was standing on top of an aisle. whoosh he was on top of a shelf. whoosh He was standing behind the counter. Arven blinked in surprise as Bass appeared out of nowhere, but Bass didn't notice and just took off again.

Bass teleported himself all over the story until he was dizzy. He tried one more time, but ended up falling flat the floor. Leiu, who was also browsing the shop, finally took notice of Bass lying on the floor, exhausted and dizzy.

"Bass! What the heck' are you doing!?" Leiu said to him.

"I pant can wheeze teleport!" Bass puffed weakly. "And it's really fun!"

"So, Arven, how's Ralph been?" Jack asked.

"Ah, he's been alright. I heard he's doing quite well as Sinnoh Champion."

"Yeah, I was sorry to here you'd lost the champoinship."

"Don't be. It was a close and fierce fight and it was fought with honor. He won it fair and square. Besides, I don't really think that I'd be happy staying Champion. I'd be travelling all over the world on stupid tours and title matches. I couldn't go anywhere without crazed fans and reporters following me. I'm not one for the celebrity life. I'm happy just travelling at my pace around and helping people 'n Pokemon in need."

"Well, it may not make you rich, but least you're happy."

"Yeah. So, how much do I owe you?"

Jack began counting up the items.

"Let's see...Six Poke balls and Ten Hyper Potions...that'll be thirteen thousand and two hundred Regional Credits."

"Right-o, then."

Arven pulled out several bills and coins from his pocket and handed them to Jack, who put them away in his register.

"So, who's your little Ralts friend?" asked Jack at last.

"Some little guy named Bass. Leiu and I found him wandering around the outskirts of the city. Poor guy couldn't even walk when we found him. He's trying to find an old friend of his."

"Ah. And who might that be?"

"A Gardevoir named Rain."

"You mean that one you met a long time ago? I remember you said you helped her build a place to live."

"Yeah. Little guy's going crazy trying to get back to her."

"Maybe you should tell him what the Battalion Commander told us."

"You mean Brenner's 'Where There's Life, There's Hope' line?"

"Yep."

"Eh, maybe not now. If I do give him a lil' rally, I'll be sure to use that line. Later Jack."

"Later Arven."

As Arven, Leiu, and Bass walked out of the Poke mart, Leiu explained to his Arven that Bass had learned to teleport.

"Oh, drat," Arven said sheepishly. "Did I forget to mention that most Ralts can do that? Sorry."

"That would have been nice to know a while back," said Bass, slightly annoyed.

Leiu seemed quite relieved at this turn of events, as it meant he didn't have to carry Bass anymore. The Ralts would simply warp a few yards ahead of the pair, and when they passed him, he would warp again. It made their conversations a bit broken up, but all things considered the arrangement was preffered by all.

As the trio moved on, idly chatting about this and that, Bass noticed that the three were approaching a large statue in the center of town.

"Before we leave, I gotta show you this." said Arven to Bass.

The young Ralts looked up at the statue. It was a brilliantly carved marble obelisk of a man holding a beautiful colored stone in his hand. The man looked heroic, and he held the stone with an air of triumph. His face was one of passion and determination.

"Who is that?" asked Bass, slightly awed.

"That is Solturo. He was the founder of Sunstone City." explained Arven. "He was a very determined and courageous man. He was famous for his iron will; he never gave an inch to anything he didn't belive in."

"Was he that Battalion leader Jack mentioned?" While in the Poke mart, Bass had overheard Jack and Arven's conversation.

"Nope. He was just an ordinary man, but with a dream to build a city that was safe from evil and corruption. It's safe to say that he has succeeded."

Bass easily agreed. His example was everywhere in Sunstone City.

"In case you were wondering," Arven threw in casually, "that stone that is in his hand is known as a Daystone. The city's named for it, but since the name "Daystone City" seemd just a tad unimaginative, they changed it to Sunstone. The Daystone that Solturo uses is called the Tear of Dawn, and it is said to have mystic powers beyond a normal Daystone. There's a legend going around that says Solturo had powers, which were given to him by the stone, which he used to do impossible things."

"Is he still alive?"

"No one knows; one day, a good few months after this city was built, he just up and vanished. No warning, no clues, he was just gone. No one's ever seen him since, not even his own family."

"I'll bet he was a good man."

"Me too," Arven agreed.

"Well, let's get goin'; I've already finished my errand here, and you have a friend to get back to. "

"Yeah, that's right! You said Rain's near this city, right?"

"Yup."

Bass began to jitter with excitement.

"What're we waiting for? Let's get going. I know she'll be glad to see me."

With that, Bass took off, warping rapidly up the street. It was a few moments before he realized that he still didn't know where he was going.

"Little guy just can't wait, can he?" Leiu said amusedly.

"Surprised?" asked Arven. "He's in love. Ain't nothin' finer than true, honest love. C'mon, he still needs our help to get there."

Arven set off, with Leiu following behind, up towards Bass, who was waving frantically at them to please hurry up. Arven chuckled to himself.

'He's just the thing she needs to cheer up again,' he thought.


	6. Different Forms

Chapter Six

Different Forms

Arven, Leiu, and Bass had left the Sunstone City limits about an hour ago and were now walking down the road that lead toward Rain's home. Even though Bass was bursting with excitement, he was now managing to maitain a cool and collected exterior. After a short time Bass looked to the right to see a flower bed that was dreadfully familiar.

"There! There!" he exclaimed aloud. "That's the flower bed I fell in!"

"You sure?" Asked Leiu.

"Positive! I'd stake my life on it," replied the Ralts.

Bass immediately teleported over to the flower bed. Leiu and Arven quickly followed. When they reached the young Ralts, he was sitting in the flower bed with a serene expression, recalling his first time to this world.

"Right here was where the Beedrills buzzed by. Like that one!" Bass had spotted a male Beedrill and was pointing to it.

"Huh," Arven said.

He pressed a button on his watch and then addressed the Pokemon.

"Excuse me sir."

"Bzz? You talking to me?"

The Beedrill had answered in Pokemon speech, however Arven was somehow able to understand him as though he was speaking plain English.

"Yes. Do you live around here?"

"Yezz, yezz I do."

"Did you happen to notice anything 'strange' a couple days back?"

'Yezz. Sum kinda brown fox creature was in Zir Rosarade's flower bed. 'Ezz lucky Zurr Rose wazun't round."

"That's all. Thank you sir."

"Zzee you." And with that, the Beedrill buzzed away.

"How did you know what he was saying?" asked Bass.

Arven pointed to his ear. "I've got a lil' device in my ear called the Poke Speak. I'm kinda testing it out for a big company."

"Ah."

Bass would have to make sure to get that imformation into the gem later. It would seem odd if he was raising it up to Arven's ear while he was talking to him. He wasn't quite sure how he was going to do that, though. He'd try talking to it, and see if that did anything.

"Well Bass," said the Trainer, "you probably remember the way better than I would. I haven't been here in years. Lead the way!"

With that the trio started off again, with Bass leading the way. The memories were fresh in his mind, and in less than 10 minutes they were standing in Rain's front yard. Bass felt his heart flutter like a little bird in his chest. Since Rain was not outside, Arven went up to the door and knocked.

"Who is it?" inquired a female voice.

"A very old friend," answered Arven.

The door opened, and there she stood.

'She's even more beautiful than I remembered,' Bass thought to himself.

"Oh! Hello Arven! It's been much too long."

"Hello Rain. How've you been?"

"Good. What brings you out here?"

"Well, I was in Sunstone City, and I thought it a good idea to visit you. Also...there's someone special here to see you."

"Who would that be?" asked Rain curiously.

Bass stepped slowly forward.

"Hi Rain," he said quietly.

"Sorry, but do I know you?" Rain asked Bass.

'Of course,' Bass thought. 'She doesn't know I've been turned into a Ralts.'

"It's me, Bass," he said.

Rain said nothing for a long time. Slowly she turned her head to Arven.

"I thought you were my friend," she said, in a surprisingly cold voice.

"I beg your pardon?" Arven asked confusedly. "What's the matter?"

"You honestly expect me to belive this Ralts is Bass?" she asked, still in that frosty voice. "That's impossible, and you and I both know it. You just got some little friend of yours in on a joke to make fun of me. I'm sorry, but I won't be laughed at."

"Whoa, Rain," Bass said in alarm. "It's not a joke. It's really me."

"He's telling the truth," Leiu interjected. "I should know."

"And you," she said, turning to him. "I should have thought that if no one else, you at least would have shown me some decency. Is my pain really so amusing to you all?"

"Rain-" Bass began again, but she cut him off.

"Enough!" she said, and Bass actually winced at the hurt and bitterness in her voice. "You all know how I was abandonded all those years ago! You have no idea how much that hurt me. Then I had to live on my own for years, with almost no company of any kind. Then, when I finally thought I had someone who could have been a true friend to me again, he vanishes from my life as quickly as he came. But that grief was not enough for you, apparently. No, you had to mock me on top of that."

Rain turned away, but not before Bass saw a single tear run down her cheek. He felt as though he'd been punched in the stomach.

"Oh, no," he said miserably. "Rain, please don't cry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Haven't you all done enough for one day?" she asked in a dead voice. "Excuse me."

With that, she turned around, opened the door, and stepped inside, closing it in their faces.

"Oh, God," Arven said softly. "I didn't expect this to happen at all."

Bass said nothing for a moment, but instead sat on Rain's porch.

"Did you see the way she looked at me?" he said, his voice heavy with misery.

Leiu walked over to the hunched figure and put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright, little guy," he said. "We'll think of something."

However, they would never get the chance, because those words were barely out of his mouth when Rain suddenly screamed in terror.

"RAIN!" Bass shouted, leaping to his feet.

He ran over to the door and punded on it with his small fists.

"What is it?! What's the matter?! Hello?! HELLO?!"

The door suddenly burst outward, and Rain came running from inside. Following behind her at a slow shuffle was the creepiest thing Bass had ever seen in his life. It looked like a horrible cross between a plant and a human. Much of its body was made of moss-covered wood, with leaves growing at odd places. Its arms were covered in thick vines, and its face looked downright evil.

"Uh, Arven," Bass said, his voice shaking. "What kind of pokemon is that?"

"That's no pokemon," Aren said quietly.

The creature suddenly lunged at Rain. She shrieked and jumped back, avoiding it's grip by inches.

Arven quickly stepped between the two. "Alright, now what-oof!"

The creature didn't even bother to listen to him, but instead swatted him aside like a fly. He stumbled backward right into the waiting arms of another tree thing. More were stepping out of random spots, and soon the group was surrounded.

"What the?!" Arven shouted in alarm.

Bass watched in horror as the vines on the creatures arms came to life and began winding toward his friends. Arven was the first to be captured. Leiu fought powerfully, but he was quickly subdued. Next, the creatures turned to Rain. Bass knew exactly what was about to happen, and he was not about to sit back and watch. He warped between Rain and her would-be captor.

"You put one creeper on her," he said in a deadly voice, "and I'll turn you into firewood."

The creature laughed before swatting Bass aside like a rag doll. He sailed across the circle, into the waiting vines of another plant thing. Satisfied, the attackers turned to Rain.

To be fair, Rain fought well. Her psychic powers helped her to beat back the plants for quite a while, but the effort and the creatures' numbers were too much for her, and she fell under the onslaught. When Bass had a clear view of her, she was completely bound and gagged. Her eyes were wide with terror.

"LET ME GO!" he roared, though his high pitched voice took some of the intimidation factor away.

"Shaddup!" snapped the plant thing that was holding him. It stared at him for a few seconds, and then he noticed something that interested him.

"Hey, what's this?" he said, reaching down to pluck the research gem from around Bass' neck.

"Hey! Give that back!"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure you aren't going to need this," the plant monster chuckled. With that, it smashed the gem up against a nearby tree and shattered it.

Rain suddenly began to struggle against her binds.

"Quit it you!" snapped one of the tree-things, before hauling back and slapping her across the face.

Hatred rose in Bass such as he had never known before. He bowed his head for a moment, before arching his neck and releasing a primal scream at the sky, a scream of rage and desperation. As he screamed, Bass noticed that his body began to glow. At first he thought Niva and Plimis were pulling him back to his own world because he'd lost the gem, but that thought was quickly banished when Bass felt his body began to grow and change. He became taller, more humanoid. With a final burst of rage, Bass released a psychic pulse which snapped his bonds and knocked the creature holding him away.

Bass took the momentary distraction to look at what he had become. His body was taller now, though still not as tall as his original form. His arms were now slender and graceful, with hands that had two finger as opposed to none, and his legs were no longer obscured by his dress-thing. Instead, they became slender as well. They lacked any sort of definable foot, instead coming to rounded points, which Bass balanced effortlessly on. His get-up had changed from a long ungainly thing to a form fitting outfit, which ended at his waist in a mini-skirt that split into four directions. His hair had also changed. It was no longer completely covering his face, but instead covered his mouth, nose, and forehead, leaving his eyes with a clear view. Lastly, his horns, which used to be on the front and back of his head were now on either side of it. As Bass searched for a name to call this new form, one supplied itself, and he was sure beyond any doubt that it was the right one.

'I am,' he thought, 'a Kirlia.'

The plant that he had knocked back had recovered by now and was about to punch him right in the face. However, just before impact some instinct arose in Bass, and he knew what to do. Without showing a trace of fear, Bass raised his arm at the creature, imagining that a giant invisible hand held it in place. As he thought it, it came to be. The creature's hand stopped an inch from Bass' face. Its body was covered in a soft blue glow. Effortlessly, Bass lifted the creature into the air and hurled it away.

He looked back to his friends, who were still bound. He turned to each, pivoting effortlessly in a small cirlce, and imagined he was pulling the vines that held them apart with his hands. They snapped like cheap thread.

"Thanks for the save, Bass," said Arven.

"You little runt!"

One of the plants was about to whack Bass with his trunk-like arm, but suddenly a blue Aura Sphere whizzed by and blasted it away. Arven had grabbed a large stone that was coveniently shaped like a baseball bat and was using it to beat back another while Rain blasted another with a psychic wave. Another tried to get Bass, but the Kirlia put his hands togethor and fired a beam of multicolored light at it.

"Come on!" shouted Arven excitedly. "I could do this all day!"

Unfortunately, at that very moment, he was caught from behind by a tangle of vines again. Bass turned and was about to free him when a crashing blow fell on his head. He didn't fall unconscious, but he was now exceedingly dizzy and unable to focus his psychic power. Slowly, the group was once again bound as before.

"Well men," said the most twisted looking tree, who was obviously the leader. "Shall we punish these fools for their little display?"

"Yeah!" they shouted in unison.

"This one first!" said one as he held up the still whoozy Bass. "He's the one what freed the others!"

The othr plants murmered agreement.

"Put him up against that tree," said the leader. "I'll handle his punishment myself."

Two plants grabbed Bass' arms and pinned them against the tree so that his back was exposed. The leader produced a thin vine. He raised it above his head, flashed a cruel grin, and whipped Bass hard. He cried out in pain, and then did so again and again as more lashes rained down upon him.

"Stop it! Stop it!" cried Rain. "He's only a young Kirlia! Leave him alone!"

"Shut up," the leader snarled. "Your friend here must learn the price for resistance." He raised the whip again.

"No! Let him go! LET HIM GO!"

Suddenly Rain began to glow. It was not the white aura of evolution, however, but a deep royal blue. The plant holding her screamed and let go as his vines were scalded as though with white-hot fire. Slowly she rose in the air. Pure power radiated from her, and as she concentrated, the effect increased. For Bass, Arven, and Leiu, the experience was like having the sun on your back, but for the plants, it was as though they were being burned to death. They screamed as they slowly began to wither away. Soon, they were nothing more than empty dried husks, which crumbled and blew away on the wind like dead leaves.

Slowly, she sank back to the ground as the aura faded from around her body. Bass, Arven, and Leiu were looking at her in amazement. She looked at each of them rather modestly, but when she got to Bass, her expression changed to one of wonder and joy.

Bass blinked confusedly. He looked around for a second, and then looked at himself. He gasped. He was a Mobian fox again. The amazement at this sudden and unexplained change was quickly lost to horrified embarresment as Bass noticed that he had a small prolem. However, he was unable to do anything about it because at that moment Rain threw herself at him and hugged him as hard as she could.

"Bass!, Oh my goodness, it is you! I'm sorry I didn't believe you!"

"Rain, please!" he said, blushing redder than he ever had in his life. "I'm not wearing anything!"

Rain let go of him and laughed.

"So?" she asked amusedly. "You weren't when I met you, and you didn't seem to mind then."

"Yes I was!" he replied. This was downright mortifying. "I had a pair of gloves and shoes on!"

Arven laughed as well.

"And that makes a huge difference because...?" he asked, still chuckling.

Leiu simply shrugged.

"It is a big difference!" Bass said indignantly. "It's not so bad for male animaloids to walk around bare-bodied, but it's considered indecent if they aren't wearing anything!"

Arven simply chuckled again. "Not around here it isn't. You aren't going to stand out in the least here no matter what you're wearing, and no one's going to care, not even us."

"Well...alright, but can we please find some gloves and shoes soon? I don't care if anyone else minds; I will."

"Alright, if it makes you feel better," said Arven. "We'll go shopping as soon as we get the chance. But you're gonna have to get over this at some point."

Bass just huffed. He was just starting to feel like wasn't going to immidiately die of embarressment, but he still felt awkward. Suddenly, though, that was the least of his problems as he suddenly felt a stinging pain in his back. The whip wounds were still there. He winced at the sudden biting pain.

"Oh my," whispered Rain. "I'd forgotten. Here, turn around and let me look."

Bass obliged, and Rain gasped as she saw the violent, bleeding slices in his back. She placed her hand, which was glowing a light green color, on his back. Bass tensed, expecting more pain, but instead he felt a gentle sooting sensation. He exhaled slowly, savoring the feeling. Eventually Rain pulled her hand away to reveal Bass's bare back, completely healed.

"Thank you," he said gratefully. "Now, what was that all about?"

"What was what?"

"That super aura thing."

"Oh. To be honest, I don't really know. I can't even really remember it all that well. All I really recall was wanting to protect you, and then everything's a big blue blur."

"I'm more interested in how you changed back," she continued. "How'd you do it?"

"I don't know," he said. "I didn't even notice at first. It happened after you went all hyper, though, so maybe your power has something to do with it."

"I'll try and see if anything happens." Rain then raised her palm at Bass and concentrated. Hid body was soon covered with a bright blue glow. It danced across his body, and it even tickled a bit. Aftr several minutes, though, it became aparrent that nothing was going to happen. She lowered her hand.

"It doesn't really matter to me anyway," Bass said. "I'm just glad you're alright."

Rain hugged him again, and this time he hugged back, all shame forgotten.

"I'm sorry I left you," he said quietly. "I can only imagine how much that must've hurt."

"It doesn't matter," she replied. "You're back, and that's all I care about."

Arven walked over to Rain and Bass.

"Bass? You okay pal?" he asked.

Bass and Rain quickly broke apart.

"I'm fine, now that Rain's healed me," he answered.

"Everyone else okay?" asked Rain.

"Me an' Leiu are okay," replied Arven.

"Alright then, let's head inside. Bass, I think I have some gloves that might fit, but we'll have to go shopping for some shoes. I've also got some homemade green tea, if anyone's interested."

"Count me in!" Arven replied happily. "Bass, you have got to try this stuff; it's heavenly."

Rain then led the way into the house, with Bass practically floating in after her.

"Guy's completely infatuated," said Arven with a small smile. "Let's hope he can pull it off with her. I'm not too worried, though. They seem perfect for each other."

Arven then headed inside, motioning to Leiu, who was still wondering what the big deal was about not having clothes on. He understood the reason why with humans, but with Pokemon and "animaloids"...well, it was different with them.

"Some things I'll just never understand."

As they headed inside, none of them happened to notice the small Opal Gem glint brightly in the grass where Bass had been standing when he'd made his change.


	7. A Growing Bond

Chapter Seven  
A Growing Bond

Leiu had lingered outside after the rest of the group, still somewhat lost in his musings. He was about to join the others when he felt a disturbance. It was faint and very brief, but Leiu had sensed another presence outside the building. Judging from the minute taste of Aura that he had gotten, it was another Lucario. Leiu probed carefully, but could get no more signals. While this made him uneasy, he decided that it couldn't be too important and decided to enter the house.

Arven and Bass were already sitting down at a simple but elegantly carved wooden table while Rain was pouring out green tea from a pitcher into four little wooden cups. Leiu walked over and took a seat next to Arven, who was sitting across from Bass.

"My, my Rain, this table's beautiful," Arven commented. "Where'd you get it from?"

"Oh, the table? Actually, I carved it myself."

"You did? I must say, I'm impressed. You might have a career as a woodcarver, what with your eye for simple elegance."

"Thank you," she replied as she walked over to the table and sat next to Bass.

The Gardevoir then used her psychic power to lift the cups from the counter and, with a little flourish, land them neatly in front of each of them.

"Thank you Rain," the others said.

Arven then continued with, "But, pleasantries aside, I can't help but wonder what those plant things were."

"Whatever they were, they sure were creepy," Bass chimed in. "I'm just glad they'e gone."

"Mmhm. I was afraid to go hand to hand with them," Arven replied. "I dunno how you do it Leiu."

The Lucario simply shruged his shoulders,

"It's just something that I do. I've been going hand-to-hand with pretty much anything and everything my whole life, so I'm used to it."

"Well, whatever they were," said Rain in a cheery, yet still somewhat nervous voice, "they're gone now, and I certainly hope that they don't come back."

It was at about this moment that Bass remembered his cup of green tea. He glanced down at the drink, slightly uneasey. He'd never had green tea before, or any kind of tea for that matter, and the drink's color didn't exactly invoke thoughts of a pleasant taste. Bass was somewhat dubious about Arven's claim that the stuff was "heavanly".

'Oh well,' he finally decide. 'Might as well.'

Bass then picked up the wooden cup and took a tentative sip of the green-hued liquid inside. He blinked in surprise. The stuff was downright delicious. He immidiately took another, slightly larger sip. Arven noticed his reaction to the drink and chuckled.

""Told ya it was good," he grinned.

"Mmm," Bass tried to reply, but his mouth was still full of tea. Swallowing hastily, he nodded. "It's almost as amazing as you, Rain."

"Oh Bass, you're really too kind," replied the Gardevoir.

Arven then noticed that Bass was quickly falling into that dreamy state again. He knew Bass was about a second away from making himself look like an idiot.

'Better stop him afore he embarrasses himself,' he thought. Thinking quickly, Arven decided to occupy Bass with his other pressing concern.

"So, what kinda clothes do you like?"

Bass then remembered his current situation, and snapped back to reality.

"Oh, well, I don't ever really wear anything beyond a simple set of gloves and shoes, except for formal occasions."

"Oh c'mon," Arven urged. "If you're gonna wear clothes, might as well go all the way, am I right?"

Bass thought of it for a second. He could see the logic in that, and in any case he might enjoy trying out a few outfits.

"Well, I suppose it might be neat to try," Bass admitted.

Arven clapped his hands togethor as though he had proved some confusing theory beyond all doubt.

"Well then, it's settled! You, my friend, are getting a new wardrobe!"

"When're we gonna head out?" asked Leiu.

"How about right now?" replied Arven. "I got nothing else to do."

Rain looked out the window and sighed. "It would be nice to go out, and it's been ages since I've been to the city, but it's already dark, and we've had a rough day, all of us."

"You sure?" asked Arven with a hint of disappointment. Arven enjoyed to do things late at night.

"She does have a point Arven," added Bass. "Besides, we aren't all nocturnal like you." He then yawned.

"Aww shoot," said Arven. "I'm still itching for a little adventure."

"Why don't we just head out ourselves?" asked Leiu.

"You wouldn't mind, would you m' lady?" Arven asked, with a mock bow to Rain.

"Sure, sure, it's okay," she replied with a smile. "Me and Bass'll just stay here for the night."

"Alright. What say we meet at the city gates an hour after dawn?" asked Arven as he and Leiu prepared to leave.

"Sounds good to me," Bass said as Rain nodded agreement.

"Very well then," Arven concluded as he walked out the door. "See you tommorow."

"They're quite the adventurers," said Bass in an amused tone.

"Yeah..." replied Rain with just a hint of uncertainty. "Bass, will you come with me for a second?"

"Sure," he replied.

Rain stood up and lead the way to her room, with Bass following behind. As she left the room, she automatically lifted the cups from across the room and deposited them in the wash basin. When they got to the room, Rain sat down on her bed. She seemed unable to meet Bass' eyes.

"Listen, I...I wanted to apologize for...for earlier today. I mean, when you showed up and...I thought it was just a cruel joke."

"It's alright," replied the fox. "I understand."

"And then you tried so hard to protect me, even after I'd treated you that way. I've never been more ashamed of myself in my life."

Bass could hear the sorrow in her voice. "Rain, please don't," he said softly. "I understand. I'd probably feel the same if it happened to me. You don't need to feel guilty or anything."

Bass then walked over to her side and sat down. As he sat down, though, he somehow managed to accidently set his hand down on Rain's. Both of them jerked their hands away in embarresment.

They sat like that for a little while. The butterflies were back now, and it felt like they'd brought some friends for a party. After a little while of Bass sitting there in a totally awkward silence, Rain turned her head toward him, a puzzled expression on her face.

"What are you feeling right now?" she asked, still with that puzzled look.

"What do you mean?" asked Bass, and he was pleased to hear that he'd kept his voice level.

"Gardevoir, in fact, every member of our evolutionary line have the power to sense emotions. Right now, I'm getting a strange feeling from you, but I can't quite place it. It's almost like...nervous excitement."

"Uh, w-well..." So much for an even voice. "I guess I'm still coming off the rush from that little event today. And I'm kinda excited about going shopping tommorow." Oh god. She was never going to buy that.

He stood up. "Well, it's getting late," he said, with a quick stretch. "Think I'll hit the hay."

He was at the door when Rain called "Wait."

He stopped, his insides churning.

She stood up and walked over to him.

"Listen," she said, "before you go, I want to thank you for everything you did today. No one's ever done anything like that for me before."

With that, she leaned forward and gave him a small kiss on the cheek.

Every single nerve in Bass' brain went dead in an instant. He wasn't sure if he'd stood in that doorway for 5 seconds or 3 years. Eventually, he regained control of his motor functions and walked calmly to his room. When he arrived, he fell face up on his bed. About 10 seconds later his brain kicked back into overdrive, and it took more willpower than he knew he had to resist the urge to leap out the window, climb up the house and whoop with sheer overwhelming joy.

Eventually, the shock wore off and Bass started thinking clearly again. Well, there was no denying that she cared about him, that much was certain, and he was willing to bet that whatever he'd said to her, she knew that he at least liked her too. Still, he couldn't read too much into this. That kiss had been a symbol of gratitude, and although it was a powerful gesture, he couldn't assume that it meant anything more than a simple thank-you. It was likely not an expression of real love.

As Bass thought, he decided that he was going to wait before he told Rain the truth. Now would be too sudden, much too sudden. He would have to spend more time with her, become the perfect person for her to be with. He didn't care what Niva had said about pokemon and animaloids; he was going to make it work, of that he was certain.

--

Arven and Leiu were at the gates of Sunstone city, waiting for their friends to show up.

"So, what do you think Rain and Bass're up to at this point?" Arven asked Leiu.

"By now? Bass' probably confessed his love to her and there's no telling what they could be getting up to."

Arven smacked Leiu on the back of the head.

"Jeez! Where do you pick up on these things?! Not from me, I hope. Besides, he's not a pokemon anymore."

"Annnnd? What's that got to do with it?"

"Y'know what? I think I'm gonna throw up if this conversation keeps going. Sometimes I wonder how old you really are, the things you talk about."

With that conversation officially dead, the two sat in silence for a short time.

"Well, it's still a little while before dawn. Wanna hit the Game Corner?" Arven said at last.

"I thought you were through with the Game Corner."

"Nope," Arven grinned. "Not quite yet."

Suddenly, Leiu put his hand up to silence Arven.

"Shh," he said quietly. "You hear that?"

"Hear what?" Arven asked, not worried in the slightest.

Leiu continued to hold his hand up for silence. Eventually, the noise sounded again. It was like a bunch of plants rustling together. Suddenly, the two friends were covered by a shadow, which was being cast by something very large behind them. They turned, but they weren't able to even gasp in surprise before large vines wrapped around their mouths, gagging them. They were hoisted in the air and carried off into the morning.


	8. Silver Linings

Chapter Eight

Silver Linings

Dawn broke over the small tree house. Sunlight began to gleam shyly through a window. As the sun climbed, the ray crept across the room until it was playing across Bass' face. Slowly, his eyes opened and he sat up with a yawn. He got out of his bed and looked back at it with some surprise. It was made from wood and leaves, but it was a comfy as the most expensive down matress you'd ever find.

Streching, Bass walked over to the door and out into the house's small hallway. He glanced about, and his eyes were drawn to the door to Rain's room. It was open, which meant that she was awake too, because she didn't usually sleep with her door open. He walked over and slowly pushed the door open a little wider. He wasn't entirely surprised to see that Rain wasn't even there.

Returning the door to its former position, Bass walked further down the hall and through the arch that led into the house's living room. Rain wasn't here either. Somewhat perplexed now, Bass looked out the window to the yard outside. She wasn't there either. Well, this was certainly odd. Bass was about to leave the room when he noticed a non-descript little door in the corner. Bass hadn't ever been inside that one before. He walked quietly over and knocked gently.

"Yes?" came Rain's voice from the other side of the door.

"It's me," replied the fox.

"Come on in."

Bass opened the door and stepped inside to find a somewhat smallish room. Rain was sitting cross-legged in the middle of a large green rug that was decorated with green plants and flowers. The rest of the room was fairly empty, save for a small dresser, atop which stood a jug and several small cups, which were filled with cold water. The only other thing worth noticing was the closet door on the opposite side of the room, and the only reason it was worth noticing was because it was quite clearly locked. Having finished observing the room, Bass looked back to Rain. Only now did he notice the look of passive concentration on her face and realize that she was in a state of meditation.

"Uh, sorry," he said apologetically. "Didn't mean to disturb you or anything. I'll leave you alone."

Rain giggled. She opened her eyes and looked to Bass.

"Don't worry," she said with a smile. "I don't mind at all. Why not join me?"

"Well, I would," Bass began, "except that I've never meditated before, and I don't really know how."

At that, Rain actually laughed.

"There's no right way to meditate," she said, her eyes still laughing. "All you have to do is relax. Remove yourself from distractions and just unwind. Think of something that makes you feel calm, like the waves on the ocean or the wind in the trees. I like to think of a meadow of bright flowers."

"Uh, alright," Bass said.

He sat down by Rain, who had already closed her eyes again, and closed his own. He sat there, not really thinking about anything in particular. Gradually, he felt an inexplicable feeling of simple peace. His worries and cares just seemd to melt away.

'This feels nice,' he thought. 'I need to do this more often.'

Bass' thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud thump, which came from outside. His eyes snapped open to find Rain already on her feet. She swept out the door with Bass right behind her. They both bolted through the house and out the front door.

"Oh, come on!" Bass exclaimed in exasperation. "Are we ever going to get a break?!"

Shuffling slowly towards them was no less than 12 of those creepy tree things from the other day. They marched slowly from all directions, surrounding the pair.

"How are we gonna get out of this?" Bass asked no one in particular.

"Well, you could start by believing we have a chance," called out a voice from above him. Without warning or pretense, a man leapt from a point on Rain's house and landed in front of the two of them. He had dark brown shoulder length hair, a fairly rugged complexion, and green eyes that seemed to shine with energy. He wore a magnificent, sweeping blue robe with a red trim and looked to be in his mid-twenties.

"Who are you?!" Bass yelped in surprise.

"My name's Rolto, and you can calm down because I'm here to help."

With that, Rolto raised his palm and aimed it at a plant monster. His eyes narrowed, and the air seemed to crackle and burn.

Suddenly, he thrust his palm outward with a cry of "PK Fire!" A small bolt of energy flew from his hand and struck the tree, which has immidiately swallowed by a pillar of red flame. It screamed horribly as it whithered and turned to ash.

"Judging by your reactions, I'm guessing you've encountered these types of creatures before," Rolto said, almost conversationally.

"Yeah," Bass said. "What the heck are they?"

"Well, I don't know what name they've given themselves, but I've been calling them 'Creepers'," Rolto answered. Almost casually, he flicked his wrist at another Creeper that was getting too close, only to fire two more blasts with a bit more urgency as another few started approaching. The Creepers kept coming closer, without seeming to care for their losses oreven their own lives.

"Great," Rolto thought to himself, "there's to many to handle."

Now the Creepers were starting to send their curling, snake-like vines towards the trio. Rolto quickly jabbed his index finger to his forhead. There was a burst of electricity, and the vines recoiled as the Creepers hissed in pain and irritation. Unfortunately, the electric burst only lasted a few seconds, and without a moment lost the vines began snaking forward again. Rolto raised his hands again, preparing to unleash another psychic assualt when there came a strange whistling sound, like a spear hurtling through the air.

Without warning, somthing shot down from the sky and buried itself in the ground behind the Creepers, who turned around to look at it. Bass craned his neck to look around them, and felt his fists clench alomst of their own accord. It was an unpleasantly familiar tall staff of green wood, with an opal of swirling color set in the head. As the group watched, small black particals started to gather at the opal, forming a small spere of dark energy. Suddenly, with a rush of wind, the orb exploded in a burst of blinding black light. Bass put his hand over his eyes to protect his sight. After the flash ended, he lowered his hand and gaped in astonishment. All the Creepers were dead. All that was left were horribly mishappen carcasses.

"Well, I'm glad that's over with," said a familiar voice. The voice was soon after joined by a person Bass had hoped he wouldn't see for a long time. He scowled as Plimis floated downward to land by his staff and pluck it out of the ground.

"And just what are you doing here?" Bass asked, his voice low and dangerous.

"It's nice to see you too, Bass," replied Plimis genially. "That's hardly an attitude to take when someone saves your life, you know." He glanced at Bass with some surprise. "How did you change back?" he asked, sounding only vaguely curious.

"I don't know," Bass said, the venom in his tone becoming more and more pronouced. "I'd assumed it was another little surprise you had left for me you back-stabber!"

"Well, I can assure you that we have had nothing to do with this particular transformation," Plimis replied.

"Well then, would you care to explain why I ended up as a Ralts? I seem to remember being promised a potion that would turn me into a Gallade. A Gallade. Why should I believe anything you say when you both cheated me?!""

"Maybe you're just overreacting a lit-"

"OVERREACTING!?" That was the final straw. Bass' anger exploded like water from a dam.

"How can you call that overreacting?! Let's see you get stabbed in the back and see how you like it! You're lucky I'm not a Kirlia anymore, or I'd beat you into the ground for all your lies!"

"Bass, you really must calm-"

"I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!!" he roared.

Bass felt a hand on his shoulder all of a sudden.

"Please stop," said a small voice. "I know what they did was wrong, but you don't need to act like this. You starting to scare me."

Bass turned and was about to snap something back at Rain when he saw her face. She looked timid and uncertain, and she was watching Bass as though she was afraid he would lunge at her. Suddenly Bass felt ashamed of himself. His anger melted away. He reached out and clasped Rain's hand in his own.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "You're right; I shouldn't act like that."

"Anyway," Plimis said suddenly, drawing the focus back onto himself, "I assure you that the incident with our bargain had nothing to do with me. Going against the deal was Niva's idea. I was not wise to it until after the damage was done. If it had been up to me, you would have gotten what you'd been promised. Unfortunately, there is no way to undo the damage, because those potions have a currently unavoidable affect that makes it so that a person can only ever take one and expect any results. If you tried taking a potion now, nothing would happen. Still, if you had stayed a pokemon, you'd have gotten your end of the deal in time. A male Ralts can eventually, under certain simple circumstances, eveolve into a Gallade. If you manage to find a way to reverse whatever changed you back, you could evolve into a Gallade on your own."

"Anyway," he continued, "I really must apologize for my partner. We are both grateful that you held up your end of the bargain, even though we did not. I fully expected you to keep trying until you had found a way to leave the gem behind and forget about it."

"Uh," Bass began, "about the gem..."

"Yes, I know that it was destroyed. That's actually the reason I'm here. I was going to deliver another one to you, but now I don't think I will. As I told you, I stay true to my bargains and since we did not hold up our end, I will not ask you to hold up yours. We may ask some odd favors of you on occasion, but for now you may live here without obligations, at least from us."

"Well, since that was all I came for, I guess I'll be..." Plimis trailed off as his gaze slowly turned to the spot where Bass had changed back into a Mobian.

"Well, what have we here?" he said, almost too softly to hear. He reached down and picked up a small gem. It was a small opal, and until Plimis had picked it up it had been swirling with color. Now, however, it was a dull lead grey.

"I wonder..." he said quietly. H e walked slowly to Rain and offered the gem. "Would this happen to be yours?" he asked.

She glanced at it. "No," she answered. "I've never seen it before."

"That doesn't mean it isn't yours," he said. "Just hold it. That will tell us."

Still seeming somewhat skeptical, Rain reached out and picked up the gem. It sat in her palm for a second without changing, but gradually it began to change until it was a soft blue color.

"Well, it likes you personality, it seems, but you aren't its true owner."

"What's all this about owning the gem?" Bass asked. "Its just a rock. What's so special about it?"

"My dear Bass," Plimis said with a chuckle. "I would have thought that by now you would have learned that not everything is as it seems. This opal has magical properties. Properties, furthermore, that it will only bestow upon the individual it chooses to be its owner."

Next up was Rolto. In his hand the opal shone a deep red.

"It certainly feels comfortable with your mystic powers, but it didn't choose you either, I'm afraid."

Last up was Bass. He held the gem in his hand and waited to see what color it would turn for him.

"What exactly are you waiting for?" he asked.

"We'll know it when we see it," he replied. "And I think we just have."

At that moment, the opal had shone a bright shade of purest gold. Bass was surprised to feel a warth spead through his fingertips. HIs hand closed over the gem, for he was sure without a doubt that it had chosen him.

"I thin its safe to say that the opal has chosen you," Plimis said in a congratulatory tone of voice.

"What can it do?" Bass asked.

"I honestly have no idea," Plimis replied. "All magic gems have completely unique affects. What this gem does is something that you will have to learn for yourself."

Plimis then took the gem from Bass' hand. He closed his grip around it, and then opened it. The opal was now on the end of a simple necklace. It was the dull color that it had taken the last time Plimis had held it, but Bass, who had already become protective of the little gem, noticed that it seemed to glint with a blue light that wasn't its own for a second. If he didn't know better, he'd have said that Plimis had done something to it.

Plimis then placed the necklace around Bass' neck. The gem flashed angrily at Plimis for a second, then gradually subsided into a contended swirling of colors as it recognized it was in the possession of its master.

"Pardon me Plimis," Rolto began. "I don't mean to sound rude, but is being a delivery boy the only reason you're here?"

"I'm terribly sorry," Plimis said, "but I'm afriad we haven't been introduced, Mr. ..."

"My name's Rolto," he replied. "I was in the area when I saw these two being attacked by Creepers."

Plimis regarded Rolto for a moment. "Well! It is good to see another magic-user. However, yes my only buisness here was to deliver the gem. In all honesty, though, I was a little curious as to how you were doing, Bass, which is why I came to deliver the gem in person instead of just sending it to you. Now that my buisness is concluded, I have other matters to attend to. Good day to you all." With a bow, Plimis turned and walked away.

"So, he's one of the wizards you told me about?" asked Rain.

"Yep," replied the fox. "I thought he was just and underhanded backstabber, but he actually seems decent. Of, course, I have yet to think that of Niva."

Rolto crossed his arms. "If you ask me, he seems kinda shady. Oh well, every cloud has a sliver lining."

"Huh?" asked Bass.

"That's my motto. I belive that some good comes out of every bad situation. For example, you got cheated, and as a result you are now free to live as you want."

"Oh. I see what you mean."

Suddenly, Rolto's eyes went out of focus. He seemed to be listening to something only he could hear.

"What's wrong Rolto?" Bass asked.

"I just remembered something," he said. "I have to meet someone at Sunstone City."

"That's right!" Rain exclaimed suddenly. "We were supposed to meet Leiu and Arven ages ago. I hope they aren't worried."

"Let's go together." said Rolto. "The Great Powers'll guide us to a safe and successful journey."

'Great Powers?' thought Bass as they set out. 'Who is this guy really?'

Arven and Leiu were tied to a very large tree by some strong vines. Their captor was a large Creeper easily three times the size of a normal one. It sneered at them malevolently.

There was another figure tied to the tree. Leiu, who could not see their fellow bond mate, could only sense an Aura from a ways around the tree. Arven, who was right next to the thing, saw that it was a doll. Roughly Bass' size, the thing stared ahead with creepy dead eyes.

'Why would this thing capture a doll?' Arven wondered to himself.

Suddenly, there was a flash of blue light. Seemingly for no reason, one of the Creepers arms simply detached itself and fell right off. He turned in bewilderment to find a royal blue hedgehog standing behind him. He appeared nineteen years of age and he was wearing a red, open vest and tan jeans. He also wore fingerless black biker gloves and a sheath which seemed to carry some sort of Katana with a black wooden handle. His eyes were sky blue. At his side he had a sheathed sword.

"I'd let them go if I were you," the hedgehog said firmly.

"And what if I don't, little man?" sneered the Creeper.

"You really are quite stupid, aren't you?" the hedgehog asked. "You saw what I did to your arm, and yet you still defy me. Very well, then. Prepare to feel the wrath of a Last Apostle."

With that, the hedgehog unsheathed his sword to reveal that it was made of nothing more than bamboo. Arven was wondering how in the heck that sword could have cleaved that arm so easily when suddenly it glowed blue. Arven stared in amazement, but Leiu was even more dumfounded.

'This is Aura,' he thought. 'But I've never seen it used like this. He's managed to turn his stick into a blade that can cut anything. Who is this guy?'

The black hedgehog then dashed at his opponent, avoiding the sipes from its remaining arm. It sent vines to ensnare the hedgehog, but they were within an inch of his face when they were suddenly cleaved in half. The hedgehog's blade had moved so fast it was almost impossible to see. The Creeper stared angrily at its foe. How was this small little punk of a hedgehog able to do this? The Creeper began to swing even more wildly. It wasn't even paying attention as it uprooted trees and smashed rocks.

"Getting a little desperate now, are we?" the hedgehog asked mockingly.

He the dashed at the flailing tree creature, easily avoiding the swipes from its remaining arm. He leapt over another sweeping blow and landed on top of the arm. He ran up to the shoulder and severed it as well. He then leapt over the Creeper's head, landing behind it. Turning around, he swung his sword again, this time cleaving the whole monster in half. Before the Creeper had time to pull itself back together, the Black hedgehog walked over to its head and drove his sword between its eyes. Its eyes stared blankly for a second, then it slowly withered away.

The battle won, the black hedgehog walked over to the three captives and sliced off their bounds before discharging the aura around his blade and sheathing it. Leiu then used the spikes on his back hands to slice off the gags on his and Arven's mouths.

"Thanks a lot for the save, mate!" exclaimed Arven.

The hedgehog calmly waved a hand in a dismissive manner. "It was no trouble. Anything to foil these vile creatures."

"Why?" Arven asked. "You got a grudge or something?"

"They have done nothing to me; it is my master who detests them. Even so, I find them vile creatures, and I loathe them."

"Mmhm. Well, thanks a lot again."

Leiu walked over to the hedgehog. "I don't meant to sound rude," he said, "but so far you have failed to give us so much as your name."

Arven sighed and shook his head. Leiu just could not trust anyone, save his friends and other Pokemon.

"It's alright," replied Kaneda, who could easily guess what Arven was thinking. "I am called Kaneda, and I am an Actor for the Last Apostle Puppet Show."

"The what show?" asked Arven, completely bewildered.

"Last Apostle Puppet Show," answered Kaneda. "It's quite unlike anything you've ever seen, I assure you. Unfortunately, that was our last show for a while. We need a rest before our next performance."

Arven stared. This Kaneda was talking about the battle he had just fought as though it was just a show. This was an odd one.

"I have buisness to attend to," Kaneda said at length. "I must be going."

"Maybe you can swing by where we're stayin'. Do you know where the Gardevoir Rain's house is?"

"No, I'm sorry to say I don't," Kaneda answered.

"It's about three miles that way-ish," said Arven, pointing. "Its a big hollow tree next to this really big earthen mound with a hole in it."

Kaneda's eyes widened. "I'm sorry," he said, "but did you say a hollow tree and a large mound?"

"Yes, I did," replied Arven.

Kaneda began talking to himself frantically. "That was where she fell from the...I have to tell the Presenter this! We all assumed she had moved elsewhere, but she stayed put. We've found her at last!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Arven, a little unnerved.

"What?" Kaneda said distractedly. "Oh, nothing. Doesn't matter."

"Well, okay then. See you," Arven replied, still a bit ill at ease. He turned to Leiu.  
"C'mon Leiu, we've got to get back to the gates," he said. "Rain and Bass are probably worried about us."

With that, Arven and Leiu took off running. Once they were clear out of sight, Kaneda aproached the doll that Arven and Leiu had totally ignored. The hedgehog moved his head closer to the doll to get a better look at it: It had a rather macabre air to it. It was covered in creepy-looking stitches in various places, and its fur was many different shades of orange. Its eyes were nothing more than black, watch-size pebbles. The whole thing was downright creepy.

"Just what are you?" Kaneda asked.

"I don't think you'd belive me if I told you."

Kaneda jumped back as though he'd been burned. Despite the fact that this thing wasn't alive and had no mouth, it was quite clearly talking to him. Its voice was male, and it had a prim English accent..

"Wait," the doll said. "You can hear me? I wasn't sure anyone could, since I didn't have a mouth. I never thought to try until now, though. Thanks for saving me. Actually, I need a little more help if you can. You see, I'm stuck in this doll, and I don't think I can get out on my own."

"Well," said Kaneda, "I doubt I have the power to do anything, but the Presenter might be able to help. I will take you to him."

With that, the hedgehog slung the mysterious doll over his shoulder and dashed off through the forest.

--

Rolto, Rain, and Bass were patiently waiting at the gates of Sunstone City, idly passing the time with small talk. Finally, they turned to see Arven and Leiu walking up toward them from down the path.

"I thought the great nocturnal Trainer would have been here at first light," Bss said jokingly.

"Sorry for the wait, but we got a little...held up," Arven said. Bass knew he was holding back, but didn't press.

"Let's continue on," he continued. He turned and was about to enter the city gates when he noticed Rolto. "And who's this then?" he asked.

"My name's Rolto," explained the human. "I am a friend of Rain and Bass."

"In that case, pleasure to meet you," said Arven warmly as he and Rolto shook hands. "Any friend of Bass' is a friend of mine."

'If Arven knew all the people I knew,' Bass thought wryly to himself, thinking of Plimis, 'I'm not so sure he'd say that.'


	9. Apparel

Chapter Nine  
Apparel

"Well, if everyone's ready, I'd say it's time we got shopping," Arven said. With that, he began to lead the way into the city. Everyone followed him for a second, but then Bass held back.

"What is it?" Arven asked.

"Look," he explained. "You all have excepted the fact that I'm not wearing anything, but what about everyone else here? How am I supposed to walk down the street totally naked?"

Arevn chuckled softly. "It won't matter," he said. "No one here knows what an animaloid is, so to them your just a new type of pokemon no one's ever seen before. Most pokemon don't wear clothing, so you won't stand out. We don't have to worry about thinking of a species name, either. We can just say we found you and we're taking you to a professor to be named and classified."

"Oh, okay," Bass said. "I guess that'll work."

"Well, it has been a pleasure meeting you all," Rolto said suddenly, "but I'm afraid I have to go now. As I said, there's a companion of mine who's waiting to see me, so I must depart. However," he continued, "before I go I have something to give to Bass."

He reached into a small pouch that he had slung over his back and pulled out a thick leather-bound book. The thing looked ancient, at least 300 years old. The pages were hard and yellowed with age. The cover was very faded, and the leather was scuffed in places. Bass took it and read the title.

"A Guide to the Powers. Rolto, what exactly _are_ these powers you keep mentioning?"

"The Great Powers that govern the universe. I'll explain more the next time I see you. Keep that book safe for now, though. It will help you on your quest."

"What quest?" Bass asked.

Almost unconsciously, Rolto glanced over at Rain, who didn't notice anything. He seemed flustered, as though that was an unintentional reaction but Bass, who had seen the glance and miscontsrued its meaning, lost focus and didn't notice.

"Oh..."

"Well, I really must be leaving. Don't worry, though. I'll meet up with you again tomorrow evening at the latest." With that, Rolto walked off into the city.

"Am I the only one who thought he seemed somewhat familiar?" Arven asked after Rolto had been lost from sight.

The rest of them made noises of agreement, but no one offered any ideas, so the group gave a collective shrug and continued onward.

"Now, we're gonna get a whole new get up for you, right Bass?" Arven asked.

"Yeah. That's what you said, anyway." he agreed.

"Alright then. Let's get on with the shopping!"

The four friends walked deeper and deeper into the city. Rain, who had not visited the city in a long time, was looking every which way in amazement. She was positivelly glowing with happiness.

"It's even more amazing than the last time I was here. Oh, look. There's a new fruit stand over on the coner over there. And look at all the trees and flowers. They look so healthy and beautiful."

"I feel like I'm seeing this place for the first time," Bass said. "Last time was was just knee-high, and I could hardly see anything. Now..." he didn't finish the thought, nor did he need to. The city was simply that breathtaking. Solturo had really made a grand city indeed.

"Arven, which shop are we goin' to anywho?" asked Leiu.

"The special one," replied Arven with a small glint in his eye. Leiu grinned.

Before long, the group had arrived in the shopping district. It was very similar to the centers that one would expect to find in a major city. Lots of small clothing botiques, restaurants, fast food places, and gift shops were dotted about all over the place. There were also large multi-level complexes advertising everything you could think to buy and then some. Also dotted around the square were street performers doing various tricks for their small audiences. Some people worked alone, but most acts consisted of a human working with his pokemon. There were singers, jugglers, fire-eaters, dancers, and loads more things Bass didn't even have names for. Easily the most amusing of the acts was a guy who was break dancing with his pokemon. Bass was holding his sides as he laughed at the sight of a Tentacool doing a head-spin. The rest of the audience was in similar stiches, and this guy loved it. Another act that caught Bass' attention was a solo-ist playing some tricky riffs on an electric guitar.

"Wow," Arven said. "That guy's pretty good."

"Trust me," Bass said, "he's not so great. He'd have his guitar handed to him if he went up against Max, and I'd stake that claim with my life."

"Who's Max?" Rain asked.

"Well, back home, I mean in my world, I used to listen to this really amazing band called Matress. Odd name, I know, but no one cared because these guys were awesome. Max was the lead guitarist. I became friends with him right before I ended up coming here."

"Really? Can you play guitar?"

"Uh, no, actually. My musical expertise extends to a few simple piano lessons my mother tried to shove down my throat a few years ago. I just never really got the hang of it. I wanted to play, I just didn't seem to be cut out for it. Aw well, win some, lose some. Do you like piano?"

"Oh, absolutely! It just sounds so flowing and beautiful. I'm actually quite good, and I've been trying to get money to buy one for my house. It's going a little slow, but I'll get there someday."

Bass made sure to make a mental note of that.

"Hey Leiu," Arven said. "Get a load of this guy!"

He was pointing to a guy in fencing getup who was having a mock battle with a large dragon-like creature with massive blades instead of hands. Bass quickly recognized it from Rain's description as a Scyther.

"Come on," he said, motioning for Leiu to follow. "Let's get a closer look."

Leiu glanced at Arven a little wryly, and suddenly Bass wondered if he were really so interested in the duel after all. Not that he minded, of course.

"What other instruments do you play?" Bass asked Rain.

"Nothing else, although I enjoy singing."

"You'll have to give me a show sometime," Bass said.

"I'd love to."

Bass allowed his mind to wander, trying to think of something else to ask. Presently, his attention was drawn to a young woman standing a few feet away. She was playing a spritely march on a silver flute, and at her feet a Far'fetched stepped in perfect rythem, twirling the reed it held as though it were on a drill team. This gave Bass an idea.

"How about dancing?" he asked.

"Dancing?" Her whole face lit up. "Oh, I love it more than anything. I was twirling and prancing when I was still just a Ralts. All the members of my evolution group are good dancers, but I love it more than most, a lot more. When you dance, you feel like you're walking on a cloud. You just feel so happy, and nothing matters except you and the music." She sighed happily.  
"What about you?" she asked at length. "Can you dance at all?"

He shook his head a little sadly. "Not to save my life. I just don't seem to have a sense of rythum. I mean, I never tried lessons or anything, but I figured 'what's the point?' I'm no good anyway. Leo's way better at it than me."

"Oh, I'm sure you'd really enjoy it if you learned how to. I could teach you; it's really quite easy."

Rain suddenly looked concerned. "Bass, what's wrong?" she asked softly.

Bass was gazing off into the distance with a sad expression on his face. He didn't even seem to realize that Rain was there anymore.

"What's the matter?" Rain inquired, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Huh, what?" he said confusedly. "Oh, um." He looked sad again. "I was just thinking about my friends. God, I was so selfish."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when I first met Aria and he told me he could send me back here, I followed him immidiately. I didn't even say goodbye to my friends, even though they'd been trying to help me at the same time. Also, I'm having this really amazing adventure, and they're not here to have it with me."

He sighed. "I just wish they could see this...see you. You and Arven and all the other people I've met here and all the places I've seen." He sighed again.

"Well, that's my problem, not yours," he said, perkingup quite suddenly. "Let's not think about it."

They passed the time with more idle chatter, commenting on this or that. Bass told Rain about all sorts of things he'd done back home. However, she didn't share any tales of her own. Bass didn't think about it at first, but when she didn't say anything about her life for a good half hour he began to wonder. What could it be about her past that she wouldn't want to talk about it so much? He thought about what he knew of her past. The only thing he actually did know seemed to be the answer: that she'd been abandoned by a former Trainer some years previous. Bass had actually wondered about that a lot, but he'd never wanted to bring it up because it was almost definetely a sore subject. Now, though, he was going to try.

"Rain," he said slowly, "I don't want to upset you, and you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but I'd really like to know."

He took a quick breath before continuing. "What was your old Trainer like?" he asked.

The smile slowly disappeared from Rain's face. She looked at the ground a little sadly.

"I'm sorry," Bass said quickly, feeling an idiot. "Forget I said anything."

"No, it's okay," she said softly.

"The thing is," she continued slowly. "I don't remember. I can't remember a single thing about him. And it's not just that, either. I don't have a single memory of my past up until the point where I found myself huddled cold and miserable in the hollow tree that I made into my home. I couldn't even remember my own name, so I called myself 'Rain' because, well, it was raining at the time. Shortly after that, Arven found me and cared for me. For all I knew, I might've been a wild Gardevoir, but Arven said that I was obviously too well cared for for that. He said it was clear that I'd had a Trainer sometime recently in the past, so we both assumed I'd been abandoned. The thing is, I don't know if I want to remember. If my old Trainer could leave me to die in an old tree, do I really want to remember what he was like?"

Bass blinked. "I had no idea," he said softly.

He put his arm around her shoulder. "Well, it doesn't matter what he was like," he said bracingly. "He's gone and he isn't coming back. And if he does," he continued, punching his fist into his plam, "he'll have me to deal with."

"You promise to protect me?" she teased, laughing. "My hero." She gave him a quick hug, and Bass was again thankful that his fur covered his blushing cheeks

"Well, that took a lot longer than I expected," said Arven, appearing suddenly. "Seriously, I thought those two would never get tired."

"Anyway," he continued, "I think we've burned enough daylight just gaping around. It is time at last to shop. Wait till you see this place."

When they arrived, Bass stared in outright amazement. It was a huge shopping complex devoted entirely to clothing. The building covered a whole city block on its own, and it reached five stories into the air. Above the entrance in bright red letters was emblazoned _The Clothing Depot_. Below it was a little catch-phrase that read: "Where comfort is more important than any price."

"What kind of clothing store needs that much floor space?" asked Rain, who was also awed by the spectacle.

"The kind that sells every kind of clothing you'd every see on humans or pokemon anywhere!" replied Arven.

"Well, let's get going!" exclaimed Bass, who marched straight for the doors, with the rest right behind him. Bass was starting to attract some attention now as more and more people craned their necks to get a look at this strange new "pokemon".

"I think we should use an elevator," said Arven, glancing around somewhat apprehensively at the small crowd of onlookers as he approached an elevator and punched the second floor button.

"An elevator? Do we have to?" Bass asked uncomfortably. "Can't we just take an escalator or something? I don't want to be stuck in a box with a bunch of people staring at me."

"There's gonna be way more people staring at you fromthe escalator, trust me."

Bass glanced at the very exposed motorized stairway. "Point taken."

"You did _what?!_" Niva shrieked.

"I thought I was quite clear," Plimis replied. "I didn't deliver the other gem." He and Niva were back in their ramshackle hut in the animaloid dimension.

"WHY NOT!?"

The wizard took a look at the forest surrounding their hut for a moment, and then said, "Because it wasn't fair."

"Fair?! _FAIR?!_ We don't play fair! I don't give a rat's rear end about 'fair'!"

"Well I do," said Plimis. "I, at least, take pride in my honor and I do my best to uphold it. What would I have without it? We promised to turn Bass into a Gallade, and you renegged on the deal. As a result, I released Bass from his charge."

"You are completely insane," Niva said. "Do you have any idea what Valcrow will do to us when he finds out about this? We have to find her, and we won't be able to do that without the gem!"

"I will not be intimidated by that overgrown pile of scales," Plimis said. "Or have you forgotten that he has no power? He needs us, and he knows it. He'll have no choice but to accept whatever descisions we make. What can he do about it?"

"I'm telling you, he's more than he appears to be," Niva insisted. "He's dangerous. He'll find a way to get back at us for this. I won't take the fall for you."

"Well, it's not like it even matters anyway. That gem could only serve one purpose, and I've already filled that role myself. I've met Rain, and I'm telling you she isn't the one we're looking for, so the gem would've been wasted anyway. She matches the description, but she doesn't act right at all, nothing like what Valcrow told us. Besides," he continued, "I didn't leave empty handed. We still have a way to moniter her in case I turn out to be mistaken."

"Creepers?" asked Niva.

"You'll have to wait and see. We've got a more pressing concern at the moment, anyway. My informers have told me that the Last Apostle Puppet Show has moved into the pokemon dimension."

Niva groaned. "Not those nusainces again. Do you think they'll try to interefere?"

"I don't know, but soon it won't matter. If they don't make their move before long, it'll be too late for them to get involved. Let's hope they're as tentative as ever."

--  
"Ah-ha! I think we have a winner. I'm telling you, this one fits g-to-g."

Bass stepped out of the fitting room to show off his new attire. He wore a white T-shirt, a pair of eans, a pair of loud orange shoes, soft white gloves and a buttercup yellow vest.

"I say, Bass! You look rather smashing!" exclaimed Arven in his finest mock British accent.

"'Smashing'? You've been watching too many English soap operas," said Leiu, rolling his eyes.

"But those are the best kind," Arven protested. "Anyway, Bass _does_ look good, am I right?"

"Yeah, I'll drink to that."

"I dunno," said Bass a little dubiously. "I think the vest is a bit over the top."

"Nonsense," Arven said. "The color complements your fur tone, and the vest itself goes with the jeans."

"If you say so," said Bass, still slightly nonplussed.

"Here, put these on your forehead," Arven said, tossing him a pair of shades.

Bass complied, and Arven whistled in appreciating. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "I give you Bass the Fox."

"Listen," he continued, "Rain's already gone outside. You can head out and wait with her if you want. Me and Leiu are gonna stay behind and check out some more clothing. I heard they'd just come out with some exclusive Lucario mechandise."

If the masses had been intrigued by the strange fox-like creature walking into the Clothes Depot, it was nothing compared to their reaction upon seeing the same fox walk out the door now sporting stylish new duds and an attitude to match. He walked like he was on top of the world. Clothes really do make the man, or in this case the animaloid

Rain was sitting in a small patch of flowers in a park off to the side of the depot, idly fingering the red scarf Arven had purchased for her. She was gazing at the flowers happily, but looked up as Bass walked over.

"Has anyone told you yet that scarf perfectly matches your eyes?" Bass asked.

"Thank you," she replied, "but I'd be more jealous of your outfit. You look good in those clothes."

"Well, thanks," he said. "It feels so good to finally have something on again. Oh clothing," he said, getting down on one knee with his arm outstreched, doing his best Shakesperean accent, "'It has been much too long. How I have missed thee!"

Rain laughed. "Bass, you can be quite silly sometimes."

"I try my best," he said, grinning.

He looked around at the small patch of flowers they were in. "These flowers over there are pretty cool, huh?"

"Oh, yes. They look wonderful," she agreed.

"Let's see," Bass said. "Here we have a forget-me-not. And...over here we've got the tulip in three different colors. Quite common, yet still lovely. And here we have a tigerlily. My, this park sure has a lot of different flowers."

"You really seem to know your flowers," she said, impressed. "Honestly, if there was one thing I loved almost as much as dancing, it'd be the beauty of a flower."

Bass' ears perked up at that. He had an idea.

"Tell me Rain, what is your favorite type of flower?"

"My favorite? It'd have to be...the Star Shade."

"The Star Shade?"

"Yes. It's a small, five petaled flower shaped like a star. They're always midnight blue, and when the light shines off of the pollen that collects on their petals, they glisten. It's like holding a little star in your hands. They are so pretty."

"That sound like quite the flower" said Bass.

"I'm just sorry I haven't seen one for three years."

Bass blinked. "Three years?" he asked. "What, do they only grow in one spot or something?"

"Close," said Arven, showing up suddenly. "The Star Shade is a very rare plant that only grows in either very harsh or very secluded places. You'd be most likely to find one on top of a wind-blasted mountain or at the bottom of an old dank cave or something like that. That is, of course, _if_ you ever go looking for one."

"I know," Rain said. "So beautiful, yet so rare."

'Hmm,' thought Bass. 'Why do I get the feeling Arven's trying to tell me something?'


End file.
